Outlook 01june 2020 Nippon

Stay safe at home.
We have strengthened our online platforms

with an aim to serve your needs uniterruptedly.
Access our websites:
www.nipponindiamf.com www.nipponindiapms.com
(Chat feature available)
www.nipponindiaetf.com www.nipponindiaaif.com
Click to download our mobile apps:

Nippon India Mutual Fund | Simply Save App
For any further queries, contact us at [email protected]
Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.
JAIDEEP AHLAWAT: FINDING FAME IN PAATAL LOK
DIGITAL ISSUE
www.outlookindia.com June 1, 2020
The
ROAD To
RECOVERY
Can the
Rs 2,000,0
00 crore
Stimulu
s Packa
ge kicks
tart the
econom
y?
R N I N O. 7 0 4 4 / 1961
‹ NAVIGATOR›
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Ruben Banerjee
MANAGING EDITOR Sunil Menon
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Satish Padmanabhan
FOREIGN EDITOR Pranay Sharma
POLITICAL EDITOR Bhavna Vij-Aurora
SENIOR EDITOR Giridhar Jha (Mumbai)
CHIEF ART DIRECTOR Deepak Sharma
WRITERS Lola Nayar, Qaiser Mohammad
Ali (Senior Associate Editors), G.C. Shekhar
(Associate Editor), Jeevan Prakash Sharma (Senior
Assistant Editor), Ajay Sukumaran, Puneet
Nicholas Yadav, Jyotika Sood, Lachmi Deb Roy
(Assistant Editors),
Naseer Ganai (Senior Special Correspondent),
Preetha Nair (Special
Correspondent), Salik Ahmad (Senior
Correspondent)
COPY DESK Rituparna Kakoty (Senior Associate
Editor), Anupam Bordoloi, Saikat Niyogi,
Satyadeep (Associate Editors),
Syed Saad Ahmed (Assistant Editor)
PHOTOGRAPHERS S. Rakshit (Chief Photo
Coordinator), Jitender Gupta (Photo Editor),
Tribhuvan Tiwari (Deputy Photo Editor),
Sandipan Chatterjee, Apoorva Salkade
(Sr Photographers), Suresh Kumar Pandey (Staff
Photographer) J.S. Adhikari (Sr Photo Researcher),
U. Suresh Kumar (Digital Library)
DESIGN Saji C.S. (Chief Designer),
Leela (Senior Designer),
Devi Prasad, Padam Gupta (Sr DTP Operators)
DIGITAL Neha Mahajan (Associate Editor),
Soumitra Mishra (Digital Consultant),
Jayanta Oinam (Assistant Editor),
Mirza Arif Beg (Special
Correspondent), Neelav Chakravarti (Senior
Correspondent), Charupadma Pati (Trainee
Journalist), Suraj Wadhwa (Chief
Graphic Designer),
Editorial Manager & Chief Librarian Alka Gupta
BUSINESS OFFICE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Indranil Roy
PUBLISHER Sandip Kumar Ghosh
SR VICE PRESIDENT Meenakshi Akash
VICE PRESIDENTS Shrutika Dewan,
18
Diwan Singh Bisht
SR GENERAL MANAGERS Kabir Khattar (Corp),
Debabani Tagore, Shailender Vohra
COVER STORY
GENERAL MANAGERS Sasidharan Kollery,
Shashank Dixit Is the Rs 20-lakh-crore infusion for the pandemic-
CHIEF MANAGER Shekhar Kumar Pandey
MANAGERS Shekhar Suvarana, Sudha Sharma hit Indian economy as promising as it sounds? We
CIRCULATION & SUBSCRIPTION Anindya
Banerjee, Gagan Kohli, G. Ramesh (South), analyse the stimulus package, its impact on different
Vinod Kumar (North), Arun Kumar Jha (East)
DIGITAL Amit Mishra sectors and whether it will be able to revive the
HEAD OFFICE
AB-10, S.J. Enclave, New Delhi - 110 029
flagging growth rate.
Tel: 011-71280400; Fax: 26191420
Customer care helpline: 011-71280433,
71280462, 71280307
e-mail: [email protected]
For editorial queries: [email protected]
For subscription helpline:
[email protected]
OTHER OFFICES
MUMBAI Tel: 022-50990990 14 | THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS 10 POLIGLOT
CALCUTTA Tel: 033 46004506; Fax: 033 46004506
CHENNAI Tel: 42615224, 42615225; Fax: 42615095
Video conferencing, formerly the preserve of 48 BOOKS
BANGALORE Tel: 080-43715021 offices, has suffused almost every aspect of 51 AUDI 5
Printed and published by Indranil Roy on
behalf of Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. our lives during the pandemic 53 LA DOLCE VITA
Editor: Ruben Banerjee. Printed at Kalajyothi
Process Pvt. Ltd. Sy.No.185, Sai Pruthvi Enclave,
34 | THE SHOW MUST GO ON 55 DIARY
Kondapur – 500 084, R.R.Dist. Telangana and
published from AB-10, S.J. Enclave,
New Delhi-110 029
With cinemas shut, the release of films on
online streaming platforms is disconcerting Cover Design:
Total no. of pages 56, Including Covers
theatre owners Deepak Sharma
The firsT OuTlOOk MOney - POlicyBazaar insurance ranking pg 32 ’S NO.1 INE RAKHIGARHI RIDDLE WHAT DOES THE DNA TELL US?
Subscription Copy Not For Resale BIG BANKS—GOOD OR BAD?—see page 72 आउटलुक-आइसीएआरई इंडिया यूडिवडससिटी रैंडकंग 2019 NEW DELHI: 011-71280433, 71280462, 71280307
Ia e
ec nc
INDIA MAGAZ
RNI NO. DELHIN/2009/26981; Total pages:84; KA/BGGPO/2504/06-08; POSTAL REGD NO. DL-SW-01/4148/17-19 ; POSTED AT NDPSO WPP NO. U (SW)-34/2017-19 ; Published on July 29, 2019
L
RNI NO. DELENG/2006/16808
sp sura
l
Fax: 011-26191420
TRAVE â¿ ·¤æð â×çÂüÌ â×æ¿æÚU Âç˜æ·¤æ vw ¥»SÌ w®v~, ×êËØ 25
www.outlooktraveller.com
In
September 27, 2019 #50

SubScriber copy not for reSale Sep tember 2019, `50
POINT AND SHARE

www.outlookindia.com September 23, 2019 Rs 60
8 904150 800041 20
SUBSCRIBER COPY NOT FOR RESALE www.outlookhindi.com
o u tlo okmone y.c om
INDIA'S BEST
September 2019 • `100
Decoding the secrets of
Now, open Outlook magazine on Millennial Travel WORKPLACES MUMBAI: 022-50990990

OUTLOOK BUSINESS
FOR WOMEN
हवालात
Top Destinations Outlook Business — Great Place to Work bring you the second
your smartphone instantly.

|
annual listing of top workplaces for women —see page 41

Travel Style
INDIA'S BEST WORKPLACES FOR WOMEN
Hot Tips Work from home options are great for women.
BANGALORE: 080-4 3715021/9 ; Fax: 080-45236105

Are Indian companies up to it? —see page 30
में हत्ा
Cool Gear
Point your phone’s scanner on the

The insurance sector
enacts strict laws to curb
the frauds menace
DeepFake पुडलस डिरासत और जेलों
में बढ़ते मौतों के आंकड़े,
|
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
THE GREAT DEBATE SEEING

is not
पुडलस यातिा के डवरुद्ध
कािूि वक्त की मांग
CHENNAI: 044-42615224/25
DARK TOURISM
code and align it in the frame.

SOMEWHERE ELSE?
BELIEVING
|
SANYA
T50
Fake news got more worrisome.

ReveRse MoRtgage Loans There is now technology to morph
videos and audio to make them real.
aMRaPaLI eFFeCt R N I N O. 7 0 4 4 / 1 9 6 1
STEVE GUERDAT n RAGHU RAI n KENILWORTH n ISRAEL

Day tRaDIng
8 904150 800003 09
You will be guided instantly to our

8 904150 800027 09
facebook.com/outlookhindi twitter.com/outlookhindi 8 904150 800034 16
8 904150 800010 37 Vol14-Issue-20, September 27, 2019.indd 1 09/09/19 9:55 pm
KOLKATA: 033-46004506; Fax: 033-46004506

8 904150 800010 37 Vol14-Issue-20, September 27, 2019.indd 1 09/09/19 9:55 pm
Day tRaDIng 8 904150 800027 09

facebook.com/outlookhindi twitter.com/outlookhindi 8 904150 800034 16
8 904150 800003 09 STEVE GUERDAT n RAGHU RAI n KENILWORTH n ISRAEL

9102 ,92 yluJ no dehsilbuP ; 91-7102/43-)WS( U .ON PPW OSPDN TA DETSOP ; 91-71/8414/10-WS-LD .ON DGER LATSOP ;80-60/4052/OPGGB/AK ;48:segap latoT ;18962/9002/NIHLED .ON INR
aMRaPaLI eFFeCt R N I N O. 7 0 4 4 / 1 9 6 1
videos and audio to make them real.
ReveRse MoRtgage Loans
BELIEVING
There is now technology to morph
website, www.outlookindia.com
Fake news got more worrisome.
SANYA
05T
SOMEWHERE ELSE?
is not
SEEING
|
DARK TOURISM कािूि वक्त की मांग

9102 ,72 REBMETPES
THE GREAT DEBATE पुडलस यातिा के डवरुद्ध

में बढ़ते मौतों के आंकड़े,
This is useful to share our stories on OFFICE TIMINGS

DeepFake पुडलस डिरासत और जेलों
में हत्ा
|
the frauds menace

NEMOW ROF SECALPKROW TSEB S'AIDNI
enacts strict laws to curb

The insurance sector
Cool Gear
हवालात
social media or email them. Monday to Friday 10.00 AM to 6.00 PM
Are Indian companies up to it? —see page 30
Hot Tips Work from home options are great for women.
Travel Style
Millennial Travel
annual listing of top workplaces for women —see page 41
Top Destinations
FOR WOMEN Outlook Business — Great Place to Work bring you the second
|
SSENISUB KOOLTUO
WORKPLACES
Decoding the secrets of
September 2019 • `100
INDIA'S BEST Saturday 10.00 AM to 2.00 PM
o u tlo okmone y.c om
SUBSCRIBER COPY NOT FOR RESALE www.outlookhindi.com

80861/6002/GNELED .ON INR
8 904150 800041 20
www.outlookindia.com September 23, 2019 Rs 60
SubScriber copy not for reSale Sep tember 2019, `50

September 27, 2019 #50
ru ps
www.outlooktraveller.com
I
sn
â¿ ·¤æð â×çÂüÌ â×æ¿æÚU Âç˜æ·¤æ

na ce
TRAVE vw ¥»SÌ w®v~, ×êËØ 25

L
RAKHIGARHI RIDDLE WHAT DOES THE DNA TELL US?
ec laI
INDIA MAGAZ
’S NO.1 INE
आउटलुक-आइसीएआरई इंडिया यूडिवडससिटी रैंडकंग 2019
The firsT OuTlOOk MOney - POlicyBazaar insurance ranking pg 32
Subscription Copy Not For Resale BIG BANKS—GOOD OR BAD?—see page 72
2 O U TLO O K | JUNE 1, 2020

LETTERS FEEDBACK › [email protected]
25/5/2020
takers. Thus, globalisation was

already on the wane when the
pandemic struck. With supply
chains disrupted, the world is
now wary of putting all its eggs
in China’s basket. Local is the
new buzzword and self-
dependency the mantra of suc-
cess. A transformational
change in nations’ economies
will be witnessed, which is
bound to affect the post-
COVID-19 world order.
FROM THE Daak Room

Dec. 10, 1918.
Dear Aunt and Family:-
I have thought of you many times but to day [sic] is the

first time that I succeeded in finding time to write you
a few lines.
Ralph and I are fine, and have not gotten the “flue”
[sic] yet altho [sic] it is pretty bad down here at present.
It seems to be among the older folks and children. The
D I G I M A G . O U T LO O K I N D I A . C O M
Engulfed
graded schools and High School is closed here but only a
few students of K.U. have it, they thought it was not
necessary to close college until they see that it must be
Dreams done. Heard you folks had it this fall but hope you are
all over it and feeling fine. This is beautiful weather
for December and to think of such a heavy snow we
GURGAON already had at Thanksgiving seems almost impossible.
Kamna Chhabra: This refers to your cover Ralph is still in the barracks, he is looking to be dis-
charged most any day altho [sic] they have been waiting for
story Yalla Bye, Al-Hindi (May 25). COVID-19
YO U T U B E . C O M / O U T LO O K M A G A Z I N E
discharging blanks to come, as each must fill out a blank

has put an end to the Gulf dream of and have a physical examination before he can get out of
Malayalis. God’s own country now stares at the army. And the boys here will be pleased to get out too.
an unprecedented crisis that does not have The boys who do not intend to go to school after being
so much to do with the immediate chal- discharged have to drill all day long and the others only
lenge posed by the pandemic (in which have to drill 1 hr. each morning and then they are free the
rest of the day until 5:30 for retreat. The barracks here are
Kerala is showing the way to others) as with
built in town but they are on K.U. Campus. Dwelling houses
remittances drying up, joblessness rising on one side of the street and barracks on the other.
and aspirations crashing down. Besides the I try to see Ralph once each day. If we do not happen to
fear of contracting the disease, plummeting
FAC E B O O K . C O M / O U T LO O K I N D I A
see each other at school, he comes down in the afternoon

oil prices are making the oil-based econ- after class and if he hasn’t time to come, I go to the
omy of the Gulf hurtle towards depression, barracks and he comes out. We rec’d a letter from the
folks at home this morn. and the flue [sic] is awful bad
ringing alarm bells in Kerala too.
around there now. I like it fine down here altho [sic] it
Consequently, the Indian diaspora, consist- is a different life in town than in the country.
ing of a significant number of Malayalis, I certainly like my school work and time goes so fast,
will no longer be able to strike gold there. have all my classes in the forenoon but the lessons are
so long it takes all P.M. and until 10 P.M. to prepare
lessons for next day.
T W I T T E R . C O M / O U T LO O K I N D I A
ON E-MAIL
I am as ever your niece, Myrtle
Vijai Pant: In the past few years, as leaders
respond to political and economic pres-
sures back home, globalisation has become Life Goes On Letter a University of Kansas student sent to
increasingly unwelcome in many places. her aunt after the height of the Spanish flu, the deadliest
The trend, initiated by powerhouses like pandemic in modern history
the US and UK, gradually found more
00 O U TLOOK4| MAY
OUTLOOK | JUNE 1 , 2020
4, 2020
#BollywoodTalkiesOutlook
Bollywood
TALKies with
Episode - 4
National award
winning Actor
Adil
Hussain
on his passion for
theatre and experience
of working with Oscar
winning directors
in conversation with
Mitrajit Bhattacharya
Columnist & Author
Watch on
May 29, 2020 (Friday), At 9 PM
@outlookindia @outlookmagazine
LETTERS
| PICTURE: GETTY IMAGES |
News / SLUGGG/SUBSLUG FEEDBACK › [email protected]
Viral Gains of Pakistan and would like to

engage India in non-produc-
enemy lies ingrained in our
imagination—it is making
tive pursuits. There are inroads through disinfor-
MUMBAI many vested interests ready mation and propaganda that
Ashok Goswami: This to put spikes in the wheel if politicians espouse for
refers to Nitin Gadkari’s not tackled shrewdly. India political mileage. One of
interview (‘The world is wary will have to beat China in its the biggest threats to our
of China. It’s good for our own game, which may mental health during the
country.’, May 25). While it’s require nerves of steel and pandemic is the blame
good to make the most of the intentions of a determined game and conspiracy
economic opportunity pre- nation ready to conquer the theories. It would be rele-
sented by the pandemic, its new world order. vant here to remember
feasibility is another story factured as a biological American President
altogether. Ease of doing NAINITAL weapon. People are even Franklin D Roosevelt’s
business in India is not what Vijay Singh Adhikari: blaming 5G technology! words in response to the
it should be even though With the invisible enemy However, there is no evi- Great Depression: “The
Modi has marketed India pitted against a visible one, dence for these contentions, only thing we have to fear
globally. With Indian sys- various conspiracy theories which just give an illusory is fear itself—nameless,
tems wrapped in red tape, a have surfaced, such as the security and a straw man to unreasoning, unjustified
lot remains to be done. China virus originating from blame. Perhaps, we will terror, which paralyses
is building up pressure on Chinese laboratories in never know the truth. But needed efforts to convert
Indian borders with the help Wuhan or that it was manu- we must realise that the retreat into advances.”
GOA sunshine. Migrant labourers

M.N. Bhartiya: This refers deserve much more than
to your story on the judici- being left on the streets to
ary Higher Resolution (May fend for themselves.
11). Lengthy oral statements
and submissions waste the PUNE
valuable time of courts, but Shanmugam Mudaliar: In
judges do not cut short such the wake of the pandemic,
practices. In any case, all the the government is desperate
steps can be confined to for funds. International
concise and complete sub- crude prices have fallen
missions in writing with drastically, but our petrol
strict instructions to not and diesel prices have
seek amendments in their remained the same, thanks
submissions, Anything that to additional cesses. Liquor
cannot be produced in writ- prices too have been nearly
ing is probably absurd and doubled. In view of the
irrelevant. Courts are not extremely precarious situa-
platforms for demonstrat- tion, it is an absolute
ing oratory and debating necessity for the govern-
skills. Alas, nobody thinks of ment to cast away its blink-
such reforms and the poor (May 18). Almost two was fixed by the ers and legalise betting. As it
litigant seeking justice suf- months after the lockdown International Labour is, the matka racket flour-
fers. Resourceful litigants was declared, migrant Organisation, is a matter of ishes with the connivance of
use the legal system to har- labourers are still facing a concern. Though industries the police. The misguided
ass their opponents and tough time. Now, some states need some succour from the stance on ethics and moral
competitors and abuse it to are amending, or even sus- government, there cannot be principles, which in any case
delay payment of public pending, most labour laws to any relaxation as far as the are not a virtue of our politi-
revenues and taxes. enable industries to function welfare of labourers is con- cal system, should be jetti-
without constraints. But the cerned. Also, it is the duty of soned in light of the corona
NAVI MUMBAI decision to allow factories to employers to look after the calamity. Lotteries should
C.K. Subramaniam: This compel labourers to work for wellbeing of employees and be started and even states
refers to your cover story 12 hours instead of the pres- provide them shelter, food should be allowed to go for
Things That Got Covided ent eight hours, a norm that and clothes, come rain or such schemes.
6O UOTULTLO
O O OK KI N| DJUNE
I A . C 1,O M
2020 M AY 4 , 2 0 2 0 | OU T LOOK 00
Join the
WEBINAR ON→
How will Corona influence
the art world?
With IN CONVERSATION WITH

Bose Krishnamachari
Painter, Curator and Director of
Kochi Biennale
Dayanita Singh
Photo Artist
Ashiesh Shah
Satish Padmanabhan
Architect and Collector
Executive Editor, Outlook
Join us on
@outlookindia & @outlook magazine
24 May, Sunday, 11.00 am.

THE
NEWS
The ICMR might revise

its recommendation on
hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for
treatment of COVID-19 patients
following doubts over its efficacy. India
is the world’s largest producer of this
anti-malarial drug, which is also used
to treat auto-immune disorders. HCQ
has failed two controlled trials in China
and France.
PTI
Railways will run 200 fully reserved before the cyclone arrived.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee
Amphan
trains having both AC and non-AC
said 72 people died in the state and she
coaches from June 1, including Duron-
pegged the damage at Rs 1 lakh crore
tos, Sampark Krantis, Jan Shatabdis.
after initial estimates. She has termed
the
Bookings began on May 21. Meanwhile, the impact of Amphan, one of the
domestic flights will resume from May strongest storms in the Bay of Bengal
25 but resumption of international in over a decade, “worse than the coro-
Terrible
operations might take a while. navirus” pandemic.
Senior state officials say it is too early
to estimate the final death toll or dam-
age to property as the hardest-hit areas
are still not accessible. There were
Outlook Bureau power cuts in the affected areas; mobile
and internet services were down as the
B
cyclone damaged communication tow-
LOWN -off roofs, collapsed ers. A hangar collapsed on an airplane
buildings, uprooted trees and a at the Calcutta airport, where runways
submerged airport…cyclone were flooded. Standing crops, planta-
Amphan has unleashed a tide of tions and infrastructure have also been
H-1B visa-holders, a majority of them
destruction in West Bengal, Odisha and affected in Odisha. Embankments in
Indian IT professionals, do not adverse-
Bangladesh. It made its landfall at the Sundarbans delta, a Unesco world
ly affect Americans, according to new
Digha in West Bengal on May 20 with heritage site, were breached as the
research. The Trump administration is wind speeds of up to 125 km per hour surge whipped up by the cyclone inun-
planning restrictions on the non-immi- and torrential rainfall, flooding dated the region. At least 10 people have
grant visa, which allows US companies Calcutta, Hooghly and North and South died in Bangladesh. As the cyclone
to employ foreign workers, premised on 24 Paraganas districts among others. weakened on the morning of May 21,
the argument that such workers harm More than 6.5 lakh people were the National Disaster Response Force
job prospects of US college grads. evacuated to shelters in both states began clearing roads. O
8 O U TLO OK | JUNE 1, 2020

M I X E D
POLIGLOT S H O T S
An artist paints a mural
depicting a doctor
saving lives in Guwahati
SNAPSHOT
UMER ASIF
exercise based on the 2011 census. It
was excluded from the purview of the
Delimitation Act, 2002, as Article 170
of the Constitution that deals with
delimitation of constituencies of state
assemblies had not been extended to
J&K due to its special status under
Article 370. In 2002,
National delimitation in J&K was
Conference frozen by the then Farooq
MP Justice Abdullah government in
(retd) Hasnian line with the decision
Masoodi taken by the then central
administration.
While J&K Reorganisation Act says
the number of seats in the J&K assem-
bly would be increased from 107 to 114,
polling would happen only for 90 of
those seats, as the other constituencies
are in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
(PoK). The BJP is set to demand more
Delimitation Challenge seats for former PoK refugees and

Kashmiri migrants. “The refugees
should be given some of the seats pro-
Naseer Ganai in Srinagar August 5, including abrogation of Arti- portionately reserved for PoK and
cles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, Kashmiri migrants should be given
In the new political setup and bifurcation of J&K into two Union two seats,” says Ashok Koul, BJP gen-
J&K following the bifurcation territories, are unconstitutional, unilat- eral secretary in J&K. “There are many
of the former state into eral and cannot be sustained. As we other issues on which the commission
two Union territories and in the absence oppose those decisions and ask the will decide according to the law.
of Article 370, the constitutional provi- court to strike down the J&K Reorgani- Instead of the population, terrain
sion that gave Jammu and Kashmir a sation Act, it means we can have noth- should be taken into consideration
semblance of semi-autonomy, leading ing to do with the delimitation during the delimitation.” The popula-
regional party National Conference has commission. This is my position. I don’t tion of Kashmir region is 68,88,475
a tough decision on its hands. With the know the party’s position on this.” (2011), while Jammu has a population
delimitation commission seeking nomi- The J&K Assembly was dissolved in of 53,78,538—and this is what the BJP
nation of Lok Sabha members to be November 2018 and the state is under is more concerned about.
party to readjusting the boundaries of President’s rule. Elections are slated to The erstwhile state of J&K had 111
constituencies, the National Conference be held in J&K after the delimitation seats, including 24 reserved for PoK,
is left with no choice but to decide one commission completes its exercise, and elections were held for 87 seats.
way or the other. The party has three which the government is carrying out Kashmir had 46 seats, Jammu 37 and
members, including its president Dr regardless of the National Confer- Ladakh four. With Ladakh carved out as
Farooq Abdullah, in the Lok Sabha. Main ence’s view. A provision of the J&K a UT, the assembly was left with 83
regional rival People’s Democratic Party Reorganisation Act makes the newly seats. “Since Article 370 was revoked
has already dismissed the delimitation created J&K UT the only region in the last August, the BJP has not done any-
commission’s exercise as a ploy of the country to undergo a delimitation thing about delimitation and thus
RSS and the BJP to undermine Jammu delayed elections,” says Panthers Party
and Kashmir’s majority community. leader Harsh Dev Singh. “There is chaos
“We are against the decisions taken on “Opposing all decisions in J&K as it is ruled by bureaucrats
August 5 last year that stripped us of taken on August 5, from outside with no understanding of
our autonomy and identity, and took the issues here. Why did it take them so
away our constitution,” says National 2019, means rejecting long to constitute the commission,
Conference MP Justice (retd) Hasnian
Masoodi. “We went to the Supreme
this exercise,” says NC which has done nothing so far? Why are
elections not held? Because the BJP
Court saying all the decisions taken on MP Masoodi. doesn’t want anything.” O
OUTLOOKINDIA.COM J U NE 1 , 2 0 2 0 | OU T LOOK 9
POLIGLOT
BORDER ROW
Giving A H IM A C H
PRADE AL
Turf Time C
SH
H
I
S H IM
LA
N
U T TA R A
T
AKHAN
D
DEH
HE coronavirus pandemic may RA D
UN The circled area is
have blurred international the source of a long
boundaries and shrunk the N discord between Nepal
world into one big infirmary, but not so E and India
much for Nepal, one of India’s neigh- P
U T TA R
bours and closest allies for decades. In PRAD A
ESH
fact, the Himalayan country has L
touched off a raw nerve by deciding to
publish new maps that include areas of
dispute with India. And for good The Lipulekh Pass is claimed by The inauguration of a road linking
measure, Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Nepal based on the Sugauli Treaty be- Lipulekh pass with Dharchula earlier
Sharma Oli declared that the “Indian tween the Himalayan nation (then a this May triggered fresh tension, with
virus looks more lethal than Chinese kingdom) and British East India Nepal claiming that the area fell on its
and Italian.” This round of acrimony Company in 1816 to define its western side of the border. But a PTI report says
began at the Federal Parliament of border with India. Kathmandu also villagers of Garbiyang assert that their
Nepal recently where the country’s claims the highly strategic areas of ancestors used to cultivate the land in
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari made Limpiyadhura and Kalapani, although Kalapani before the Sino-Indian war in
the announcement about the new Indian troops have been deployed 1962. The cultivation stopped when bor-
maps that will incorporate all the there since New Delhi fought a war der trade with China through Lipulekh
disputed territories—Limpiyadhura, with China in 1962. pass ended following the 1962 conflict.
Kalapani and Lipulekh. India reacted sharply after the Nepal “India has deployed its troops in
Last year, New Delhi published a new government released the revised map. Kalapani since 1962 and our rulers in the
map that showed Kalapani within its The foreign ministry asked past hesitated to raise the issue,” Nepal
borders, a move protested by Kathmandu to refrain from such “un- PM Oli said. Speaking in parliament, Oli
Kathmandu. India and Nepal share an justified cartographic assertion”. All also held India responsible for the
1,800 km open border. Nepal said it has the land in Lipulekh, Kalapani and spread of COVID-19 in Nepal, saying the
“consistently maintained” that as per Nabhidhang on the border tradition- infection was “more lethal” among the
the Sugauli Treaty of 1816, “all the ter- ally belongs to the residents of people coming from the neighbouring
ritories east of Kali (Mahakali) river, Garbiyang and Gunji villages of country. “Indian virus looks more le-
including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Dharchula sub-division in thal than Chinese and Italian now.
Lipulekh, belong to Nepal”. Uttarakhand’s Pithoragarh district. More are getting infected,” he said. O
brevis
Veteran Bengali Rehana Fathima TV actor Actor-comedian Tainted American

author Debesh of Kochi, who was Manmeet Fred Willard, cyclist Lance
Roy—a Sahitya forced to abandon her Grewal, of shows best known for Armstrong has
Akademi award plan to pray at the like Aadat Se his role in Every- revealed the first time
winner for his Sabarimala temple in Majboor and body Loves he took drugs was
novel Teesta Parer October 2018, was Kuldeepak, has killed Raymond and when he was 21. He
Brittanto—has terminated from the himself because of Modern Family, turned 22 a month after
died in Calcutta. BSNL on disciplinary pandemic-induced has died at the becoming 1993 road
He was 84. grounds. penury. He was 32. age of 86. race world champion.
10 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

POLIGLOT
MixedShots
I
NO LIFE WITHOUT WIFE
MAGINE being confined all alone without
WHEN it comes to curing
the comfort of a comely spouse. A Bareilly the boiling frog syndrome of
man couldn’t. So as his wife remained at her environmental naysayers,
parents’ house during the lockdown, he made it’s time to kiss a prince
the most of the moment—by marrying his and turn him into a croak. A
cousin. On finding out about her husband’s wed- shrub frog; or a bush frog.
ding, she managed to reach his house and raised hell. In a touching Know why? Because of the
unnatural human tenden-
gesture of generosity, the man said he was willing to “keep” both wives, cy to meddle with Nature,
but the first refused. Marriages are made/unmade in lockdowns! O 20 species of amphibians
in India are now critically
endangered and 35 more
are “endangered”. These
D
SPOOKY QUARANTINE? HERE’S A HELPLINE species find mention in
O ghosts like isolation? Perhaps not, as a the Zoological Survey of
23-year-old girl found out in Mumbai. She India’s updated checklist of
had been living alone in an apartment amphibians. Like Raorches-
since the lockdown began. Or so she thought, until tes resplendens that lives in
she began seeing ghosts. To her rescue came Jay the high altitudes of south
Alani, a well-known paranormal investigator who India—Anamudi in Kerala. Or
has started India’s first paranormal helpline, like Pseudophilautus amboli
9999518600, which has been receiving over 10 of Amboli in the Western
LOANELY NO MORE Ghats of Maharashtra, and
calls a day. After investigations, he found out that
I
Raorchestes shillongensis,
her tryst with spirits was a result of binge-
T’S the stuff Nirav Modi’s and as the name hints at, from
watching horror shows. Such helpful advice
Vijay Mallya’s dreams are made Shillong. What’s the big deal?
despite being the creator of a ‘non-fiction’ horror
of—a secret benefactor walking The frogs are only good at
web series! We say Alani deserves a boo or two. O
into a bank to pay off people’s debts. waiting for an insect to fly by
That’s what a businessman did at an and aim its tongue. That is
SBI branch in Aizawl. He offered Rs what they do—pest control, a
10 lakh to help out debtors and bank vital role in the ecosystem.
officials selected four who had paid a
significant part of their loan, but still
had outstanding debts. Now that’s an DATE MATHS
economic package the government
Out of 100 dating app
could take some lessons from. O
profile views, a male user
likes 35 and skips 65.
A female user likes only
COAT OF CONDUCT
T
4 and skips 96 profiles.
HE latest coronavirus casualty—lawyers’ But when it comes to
coats and gowns—may come as a whiff of chatting, a man chats
relief. The Bar Council of India has asked with 10 and a woman
lawyers across the country not to wear these during averages 25.
video-conference hearings to prevent them from
“catching” the virus. While the merits of such a
reasoning might be up for debate, it’s a huge respite Source: QuackQuack, which
during the peak of summer. Now, lawyers too might has logged over nine million
adopt the work-from-home dress code—formals Indian users on its dating app
above the belt and clothing optional below. O during the lockdown.
I L LU S T R AT I O N S : S A A H I L , T E X T BY S A A D A H M E D A N D A L K A G U P TA J U NE 1 , 2 0 2 0 | OU T LOOK 11
BENGAL/CLASHES
Smoke On
The Horizon
Anti-Muslim sentiment related
to the COVID-19 outbreak
was at root of the recent
communal flare-ups in Bengal
Leftovers A tangle of bicycles bore witness to the communal clash in Telinipara in Bengal
Rajat Roy in Calcutta Jagdeep Dhankhar and complained emerged. Matters rested there till May 7,
that the police failed to prevent the hos- when suddenly it spiked to seven cases.
C
tile situation at Harishchandrapur and All new patients came from Ajmer and
OMMUNAL tension reared its Telinipara. Chatterjee told mediaper- they are from Harishchandrapur—part
ugly head in West Bengal yet sons, claim some, that armed bands of of a Muslim-majority district where
again—the backdrop being Muslims were engaged in looting and thousands earn a living in distant areas,
anxiety and temper brought on a arson, targeting Hindus. Yet, according most coronavirus-positive migrant
knife’s edge by the COVID-19 pandemic. to local sources, when the delegation workers in Malda are also Muslim.
Yet, significantly, the flare-ups at was meeting Dhankhar in Calcutta, BJP Though there was negligible participa-
Telinipara in Hooghly district and supporters allegedly crossed the Ganga tion in the Tablighi congregation from
Harishchandrapur in Malda didn’t from Barrackpore, entered Telinipara the district, a rumour campaign against
materialise out of existing tension—an and lobbed petrol bombs on the area. Muslims vis-a-vis the outbreak gained
organised hate campaign allegedly The situation was controlled after po- ground. In such an environment, return-
fomented the trouble. Ever since the lice sealed the ferry stations and made a ing workers were treated with silent re-
Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi few arrests. Altogether, 134 people from sentment. That and the mandatory
emerged as a hotspot of the coronavi- both communities were arrested; crude quarantine irked them. The situation
rus outbreak, a narrative was created bombs and weapons were recovered was ripe for a flare-up, which broke out
to link COVID-19 with all Muslims. from them. Significantly, police did not on May 10-11. In the event, the fire was
One politician in UP called for a have to resort to firing to calm matters. doused quickly; four people from both
boycott of Muslim vegetable vendors; Rubber bullets, tear gas and lathi communities were arrested. Though the
still more accused Muslims of spread- charges were enough to disperse situation in Harishchandrapur and
ing it deliberately. The canards were the crowd. Also, no one was killed in Telinipara is normal now, one may sur-
especially vicious on social media. All the violence. mise that the situation in the state—with
this had a direct bearing on the recent At Harishchandrapur in Malda, the im- tens of lakhs of migrant workers about
communal cases in Bengal. mediate cause of tension was the to pour in from across the country in the
At Telinipara, a local, Sheikh Anwar, return of migrant workers. Malda dis- coming days—is primed for tense situa-
tested positive for the coronavirus, trict recorded its first coronavirus inf tions like these.
leading to rumours that Muslims were ection on April 27, when a worker Governor Dhankhar’s patient hear-
spreading the pathogen. To maintain returning from Barasat, North 24 ing of the BJP delegation’s com-
social distancing, the police relocated a Parganas, tested positive. On April 29, a plaints—that the cases were a
market from the congested locality to patient who returned from Mumbai handiwork of Muslims—was signifi-
an open place, but Hindus barricaded tested positive; on May 3 another case cant too. However, facts indicate an
the road to the market in a way that extant, pandemic-related anti-Muslim
would prevent Muslims from the sentiment allegedly fanned by some. It
neighbourhood access. Muslims retali- With lakhs of is clear that while the Narendra Modi
ated by blocking the entry road to a government is trying to push forward
public toilet facility used by both com- migrant workers its long-awaited labour reforms during
munities. The tension that gripped the about to pour in, this pandemic, the BJP is allegedly
area on the night of May 9-10 was def pushing to extract political mileage
used within two days. On May 12, a BJP chances of more out of the existing tension brought
delegation led by MPs Locket about by the disease. Indeed, all
Chatterjee and Arjun Singh, Mukul Roy
communal fights political parties have an eye out for the
and others called upon governor increase in Bengal. 2021 assembly polls in West Bengal. O
12 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

Bollywood
TALKies with
Episode - 2
Writer, director and

producer Kabir Khan
on his movies, stars and
favourite themes
Columnist & Author
WATCH THE
FULL INTERVIEW ON
LOCKDOWN/VID-CALL
On a covided
planet, almost
everyone is
using a virtual
platform to
socialise, work
from home, or
‘see’ a doctor
Meet th e Tea m s a n d
Zoom Ah ea d
Jyotika Sood was blown. It had fallen off. The little toddler level in the event of a panic
commotion, the jam-stained night attack, or why it didn’t click that the
S
pants paired with a smart office shirt computer has an on-off switch? The
HE nearly jumped out of her skin were live-streaming all along for meeting ended on a lighter note—quite
when her three-year-old son everyone. Red-faced, she wondered a reprieve in these anxious times when
walked in on a meeting. Full aloud why her tech-savvy plummets to millions of homebound people are
Monty and crying at the top of his
lungs: “Mama, pee-pee…Mama,
pee-pee!” She dashed like a shot for a
post-it note and pasted it on the
computer camera—blocking the
24-people meeting from the full blast
of a puny intruder in her ‘office’. Or,
that’s what she thought. But before she
could tow junior to the loo, he emptied
his bladder on the floor. She seques-
tered him in his room, scrub-dried the
tinkle pool and resumed ‘work’. “Sorry
for the interruption.” She apologised.
But why the hell are they laughing?
“Change your pajamas,” a colleague
quipped. Well, her sticky note cover
Pakistani politician Shaukat Yousafzai live-

streamed a press conference unaware that
the Facebook cat filter was swtiched on
14 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

LOCKDOWN/VID-CALL
adjusting to the new realities of with finance minister Nirmala

stay-home, work from home. And, of Sitharaman announcing the Pradhan
course, this life in a parallel reality Mantri e-VIDYA initiative for digital
has its pitfalls, and some epic fails, education that includes online teach-
but without those ‘con-calls’ and ing, and broadcasts through TV chan-
video conferences the world would nels, radio and podcasts. Top 100
actually have come to a standstill. universities will be allowed to begin
In fact, if it wasn’t for virtual/video online courses by May 30.
calls, the government command centre For the musically inclined, entire
and its machinery would have been
biding its time under a rock in this age
concerts are happening over apps like
Zoom with members of the orchestra
Karan Bajwa
of social distancing. Prime Minister sitting miles apart in the comfort of Managing Director,
Narendra Modi has been the first off their homes playing Mozart in C++ Google Cloud India
the block in holding regular meetings minor. With restaurants and bars shut-
Google Meet is unique because: Its primary
with his ministers and bureaucrats tered, and takeaways almost non-exist-
aim is to make people stay connected.
remotely. He held his fifth interaction ent, people are learning to cook samosa
Businesses across various industries—
with chief ministers through vid-con and shushi, biriyani and bisi bele bath
healthcare, banking and finance, manufac-
on May 11 when they discussed plans to through YouTube. Some for fun, some
ease the lockdown. The Union and as a necessity, and some in desperation turers, retailers, technicians etc—are using
state ministers are broadcasting their like Mr M who was brewing his own Meet to stay connected. It is designed for
message to the public through webi- toddy sundowner from coconut water. everyone such as hospitals supporting
nars. The caveat for government offi- And for the covidphobes, worried sick patients via telehealth, banks working with
cials working from home is that they over contamination of their food at the loan applicants, retailers assisting custom-
have to be attired “properly” and main- source, takeaways like Instapizza has ers remotely, or manufacturers interacting
tain all norms of office environment introduced CrustFlix (www.instapizza. safely with warehouse technicians.
during vid-cons. For its part, the in/crustflix)—customers can live- The revenue model: G Suite offerings for
Opposition too has been live-stream- stream activities in its kitchen all day, businesses are paid and monetised. But
ing its suggestions to the government every day. If anything goes wrong, doc- we have made Meet free and available to
on the COVID-19 crisis. Congress’s tors are seeing patients online. businesses and consumers to help them
Rahul Gandhi has addressed the media The biggest consumer of teleconfer- ride out the COVID-19 crisis. Anybody with
several times via vid-con. encing is India Inc, which began its a Google account will be able to video call
Schools—especially those in urban 2020-2021 fiscal and set targets with a with 100 people for as long as they want.
areas—started their new sessions from flurry of web meetings. “We have done
April through virtual classes, or remote more than 350,000 meetings, more Safety first: Meet takes advantage of Google
coursework. The broadcasts are reso- than 60 events with thousands of par- Cloud’s secure-by-design infrastructure to
nating with students; and parents are help protect your data and privacy. Meet’s
getting some relief from the constant counter-abuse and security features are on
nag of “I am bored.” E-learning is get- Britain’s Prince Charles and royal family by default. Our meeting codes are 10 char-
ting the government’s push as well, members in a video call with nurses acters long, with 25 characters in the set.
This makes it difficult to brute force “guess”
meeting codes. We limit the ability of
external participants to join the meeting
more than five minutes in advance,
reducing the window for an attack.
The features: Google Meet is accessible
directly through Chrome. In order to protect
high-risk accounts, enroll in the Advanced
Protection Program (APP). The data is
always encrypted by default with Google
meeting room hardware.
Response in price-sensitive India: Overall,
more than 3 million users have been con-
necting on Meet every day and are spend-
ing more than 3 billion minutes together—
more than 3,800 years of secure meetings
in a single day. Meet’s day over day growth
has surpassed 60 per cent in the past few
weeks and usage has surged by 30 times
to what it was in January.
LOCKDOWN/VID-CALL
ticipants in each. It is fascinating to left some participants in tears. No such

note the ease with which the employ- embarrassment has shocked users in
ees have used the platform and navi- India so far. But the home ministry, in a
gated through it on their own,” says B. 16-page advisory, warned that Zoom is
Ghosh, CIO, enterprise and corp func- not safe and susceptible to cyberat-
tions, Mahindra Group, which has been tacks that can lead to data leaks.
using Microsoft Teams since the lock- Sameer Raje, who heads Zoom’s India
down began in March. operations, clarifies that the holes have
The most popular teleconferencing been plugged and a filter introduced,
Sameer Raje software in India is turning out to be
Zoom, which has a daily user base of
which allows paid users and adminis-
trators to restrict their data from float-
Head, Zoom Video 300 million. From corporate meetings ing across the globe.
Communications India to high-profile weddings, most things Video calling has been around for
social are happening on this app. “It’s some time, but its demand has spiked
Zoom is unique because: We have a
easy. Even technically off-radar people only after the coronavirus outbreak
user base right from the largest enterprise
like me can use the app easily on their drove almost half of the world’s
to small and medium organisatons, as well
mobile phones. Besides, whether you population indoors. No doubt, compe-
as private tutors, yoga classes, dance
accept or not, it is much better in con- tition has been fierce so much so that
classes etc. We have licences that can necting with many people Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft
be deployed for an entire enterprise. We together than WhatsApp etc, where Teams, which were paid platforms, are
have Zoom licences for conference there is a limit on how many can join a not charging any money till 2020-end.
rooms and devices. We have cloud conversation,” says Ajit Arora, 65, a Apps are coming up with specialised
connectors too, and webinars. physician. He now ‘Zooms’ with his features such as in-app translations
Revenue model: Our India and global joint family every day, although there is into Indian languages during meetings,
models are similar. It’s subscription-based, always the risk of zoombombing. One background change during calls. Even
and charges depend on the monthly user such case was reported from Plymouth dating app Tinder has added a vid-con
licence. Currently, everyone’s using the plat- in southwest England when child sex feature and WhatsApp has
form free of cost. Our services, free for now, abuse footage popped up during a fit- increased its number of participants to
are available in more than 20 countries and ness class for about 60 children. Other eight for video calls. Facebook too has
more than 90,000 schools have signed up. zoombombed meetings include a rolled out its group video chat
wine-tasting event in Manchester that Messenger Rooms globally. It allows
Safety first: People love us because of
two reasons. First, it is simple, immersive
and frictionless. You don’t need heavy
software or device. Click and get in. Sec-
ond, for large organisations, where admin
and IT guys are worried about security and
functionality, we have robust features for
them too. They can analyse what’s going
on and where their meeting/con call data
is going. If you have Zoom licenced
software, you have a choice to select the
data centre to store your data.
The features: The solutions available in
the market are either IT-centric, or specific
for end users. The end-user solutions
may be shot down by an organisation’s IT
department because of trust issues. We
cater to both requirements. Users and
buyers, influencers, decision makers all
are happy about it.
The opposition towards Zoom: We grew
extremely fast, from 10 million to 300
million users a day within 12 weeks. This is
unmatched in the industry. This brought
a new set of users to our platform and
posed unique challenges. There were some
mistakes on our part as well. Needless to say
this brings a lot of focus to our services. Epic fail—vid-con gaffes like this are infusing some joy into an anxious life
16 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

LOCKDOWN/VID-CALL
Ladakh maths
teacher Kifayat
Hussain
conducts
online classes
from an
isolation centre
Samik Roy
at a hospital. Country Head, Modern
Despite testing Workplace, Microsoft India
positive for the
coronavirus, he Microsoft Teams is unique because: It
made sure his supports eight Indian languages—Hindi,
students do Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati, Kan-
not miss nada and Malayalam. Teams has real-time
a class. inline translation too. Teams is a part of
the Office 365 suite of products, providing
users with a single interface that allows
free video calls with up to 50 people continuous surveillance by govern- access to all Microsoft Office solutions. It
with no time limit. ment agencies and surprise checks. To provides the ability to work from anywhere,
The competition, proliferation and do this, we need stronger cyber laws anytime on any device. Our customers are
dangers posed by such foreign apps and a smart workforce to crack down across segments, ranging from enterprises
have not gone unnoticed. Besides, on infringements,” a cyber expert says. to medium-sized organisations to small and
video calls consume huge data, around The government has come up with a medium businesses and startups.
1 GB an hour and it goes up depending proposed legislation—the personal
Safety first: At Microsoft, privacy and
on the size of the group. And so, the data protection (PDP) bill—ostensibly
security are never an afterthought. In Teams,
ministry of electronics and informa- to shield Indians from data leaks. It
tion technology has launched an also proposes to set up a data protec- we provide privacy and security controls for
‘Innovation Challenge for tion authority. The bill defines per- video conferences. We meet more than 90
Development of a Video Conferencing sonal data as any information collected global regulatory and industry standards.
Solution under the Digital India online or offline that can be used to The features: Meeting lifecycle—persistent
Programme’—which, in simpler terms, identify a person (name, address, context, meeting scheduled in calendar,
means the government wants a desi phone number, location, photographs, notes, meeting recording captured in chan-
platform that could compete with call records et al). Information on nel or chat (before/during/after). Native
Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft healthcare (those shared with a doctor integration with chat and in-chat transla-
Teams. The winner, to be picked on or on medical apps), banking and pay- tion to 60+ languages and immersive reader.
July 29, will be contracted to design ment, sexual orientation, biometrics Collaboration and real-time coauthoring
and develop an app for the Union and (facial images, fingerprints, iris scans), with integrated O365 apps. Live events,
state governments. “Although issues caste or tribe, religion and political be- natively integrated in Teams. Allows users
like privacy and data theft are there, liefs fall in the sensitive category and to replace background at Teams meetings.
those are being covered through sub- require a muscular, hack-proof protec- This feature uses artificial intelligence (AI)
scription models. This is alarming. It’s tive cover. “The government is trying to blur the backdrop environment. Smart
like you can have privacy only if you its best to save personal data. We have camera and image annotation.
have the money,” says a technology been directing all the big companies
expert from Cisco, who doesn’t want to dealing with data to have their data Response in price-sensitive India: Our mis-
be named. He suggests that people houses in India,” a senior government sion is to empower every person and every
should “look for the end-to-end official says. That raises a fundamental organisation on the planet to achieve more.
encryption security feature on an app” question: Who guarantees the data Teams is a part of Microsoft Office 365 and
before installing it. Another free adv won’t be misused if it falls into unscru- if your organisation is a licenced Office 365
ice: be discreet with what the permis- pulous, powerful hands? It is as tricky user, you already have it. If not, we’ve you
sions you give to an app, which to predict as the naked kid ‘videobomb- covered with a free Office 365 E1 offer for six
invariably asks for access to your ing’ his mother’s conference. Or as months. If you work in education and want
phone contacts, media files etc before debatable as a Singapore court sen- to set up teachers, students, and adminis-
you install it on your phone or tablet. tencing a drug suspect to death on trators on Teams, use Office 365 A1. This free
“All apps are vulnerable and you don’t Zoom—prosecutors were in different version is available to all educational institu-
have anything foolproof in the world of locations because of the nation’s strict tions. For individuals, there is an automatic
technology. The sole safety nets are social distancing measures. O free licence valid through January 2021.
COVER
COVID-19
STORY
THE
FLU
SHOT
But is it the right vaccine
for the econodemic?
S U R E S H K . PA N D E Y
THE GROWTH
STIMULUS
Lola Nayar Total Package
Rs 2,000,000 crore, or 10%
of GDP, announced in five
tranches, which included
Size matters. Or does it? It dep earlier reliefs of nearly

Rs 900,000 crore
ends on which side of the fence you First Tranche

are on. Ask the government, and it Almost Rs 600,000 crore of
contends that it has unleashed a emergency credit facilities for
business; subordinate debt
cocktail-combination of highly-effec- for stressed MSMEs; partial
tive economic drugs to ensure imme- guarantee and special liquidity
schemes; cut in PF rates
diate and efficient recovery. Talk to
the opposition, and it claims that the Second Tranche
grandiose policy package is a case of Rs 310,000 crore that
included free food grain to
too little, too late. The fact is that migrant workers for two months,
credit facility for street vendors,
none of them stand on firm ground more credit through Kisan Credit
because this is the worst crisis in a Cards, emergency working
capital, and interest subvention
century. None of us have seen some- of Mudra Shishu Loan
thing like this before; hopefully, none
of us will in the future.
Third Tranche
Rs 150,000 crore for farm
One of the points of contention is the quantum of money that and food processing activities,
the policy makers say that they have injected to kick-start the and infrastructure to improve
economy—Rs 2,000,000 crore, the fifth largest among all the trading in products of animal
nations. The second point of debate is the mix. Is it a judicious husbandry, fisheries, and
blend that has enough stimuli to drive up the knocked-out sup- bee-keeping
ply of goods and services, and pull back consumption that’s
down in the dumps? Finally, there is the question of timing—is
this the right time to push through big-bang reforms down the Fourth &
dying system’s throat?
Contradictions prevail. The government opened the pipeline Fifth Tranche
to help businesses to access capital easily. This works only if the Rs 48,100 crore to fund viability
banks are willing to part with money, and the borrowers are
gap, additional Rs 40,000 crore
ready to use it. The Centre hiked the expenditure on income
schemes like MNREGA. States forced workers to accept condi- to boost rural employment
tions that include lower pays without bonuses and overtime.
This is in a situation of overwhelming unemployment. Reforms Reforms included higher FDI
yield desired results during boom times; they lead to more pain limits in defence, entry of
during crises. private players in space sector,
change in definition of MSMEs
Is Size of Stimuli Suspect? to hike their investment limits,
One has to remember that the COVID-19 crisis is more expan- guidelines for ease of doing
sive, vast, and unknown than the previous ones. “It is deadlier business, reduction in tax
and more unpredictable. The hit to growth (across economies,
including India) will be higher,” feels Dharmakriti Joshi, chief
deducted at source, and sale
of public sector units
OUTLOOKINDIA.COM
2008 Isn’t = To 2020
“I haven’t heard anyone say

Wow! When somebody says
we’re going to put Rs 20 lakh
crore, I would like to believe that
at least some part of it would be
real and effective but I haven’t
heard from even those who have
a better comprehension.“
Then and Now Finance ministers Pranab Mukherjee and Nirmala Sitharaman Rajiv Bajaj
MD & CEO, Bajaj Auto
I
T is understandable that econo- protect jobs. In fact, Jet Airways was
mists compare 2020 with 2008. forced to withdraw its decision to
Some maintain that the response sack employees due to political pres-
then was better than what one has sure. Currently, the states have seen
seen today. But this may be akin to the crisis to get rid of some of the
jumping the gun because there are restrictive labour laws that hamper
major differences between the two. businesses. It may be a different mat-
The first is that two different prime ter that some allege that a few states
ministers and two different regimes have gone overboard.
were in place. In 2008, Manmohan Although exports plunged in 2008,
Singh’s hands were tied due to coali- which impacted sections of agricul- “The additional borrowing and
tion government’s pressures, but he ture, the farm sector wasn’t drasti-
understood economics. In 2020, cally affected. This isn’t the case this additional expenditure (over
Narendra Modi has a free hand, but time. The rural economy may be
tends to centralise decisions. worse hit, at least over the next few
and above the expenditure
The economy was in a better months, because of the reverse mig budget of Rs 30,42,230 crore)
shape then, and the global financial ration of unorganised, temporary, and
crisis had little impact on Indian non-contractual workers. They can will be the true measure of the
banks because they were globally hide safely for a few months, but they fiscal stimulus.”
secluded. In 2008, the GDP growth will feel the pich if they are not gain-
was higher, and the collapse lower— fully employed by September this P. Chidambaram
from 6.7 per cent to 5.5 per cent, year. This may result in a new crisis. Former finance minister
says Sebastian Morris of IIM-A. Stimulus, and indirect one, was the
Today, it may plummet from 5% to economic silver bullet in 2008. Since
2-3 per cent, or lower. The size of the the global problem was with the entire
required stimulus package was financial sector, it was crucial to sup-
lower in 2008. The government had port the banks and financial “About half of the package
more fiscal flexibility. Things are dif- institutions through credit liquidity.
ferent in 2020, as the economy alr This was easily done by central banks covers fiscal measures that had
eady reeled under a slowdown, and of various countries, including India. previously been announced and
higher fiscal deficit. The direct benefit, or putting money
Labour was affected dramatically in into the hands of the consumers, also include the estimated
both the crises. However, given the wasn’t as critical as it is in 2020. Those
coalition politics, and pressures from were different times, and it is only a
economic impact of monetary
socialist partners, Manmohan Singh’s theoretical exercise to compare the stimulus from the RBI.”
government went out of the way to two responses. O Credit Rating Fitch Solutions
20 O U TLOOK | JUNE 1, 2020

COVER
COVID-19
STORY
PTI
economist, CRISIL. Pronab Sen, without collateral to enable them to

programme director, IGC India
Programme, adds, “India has lost 8 Corona in restart operations. This is supply-side
economics. It has no consequences on
per cent of her GDP, compared to a
year ago.” At best, the country’s Wonderland # 1 demand. People who have lost jobs or
seen their salaries contract don’t have
growth may be 2-3 per cent in 2020, the money to buy. It was, thus, impera-
at worst zero or negative. Like other
nations, India is caught in a vicious
“What in the world tive to put money in their hands. And
this hasn’t been countered adequately.
economic whirlpool.
Therefore, what was required was a is happening? For the government, it was a tricky
manoeuvre, a delicate balancing-act
response as large as the predicted given the constraints. The paralysis in
impact. Instead, according to Sen, Ah, that’s a great economic activity for 1-2 months im-
what we got was something that only plies that its revenues will take a huge
addressed “roughly half” of the exp
ected downturn. He explains that a
puzzle.” hit. Given the fact that it hiked the fis-
cal deficit in the last Budget to cope
fair amount of (economic) damage In today’s world, everyone is with the then ongoing slowdown pro-
will be left within the system. mystified by what hit us, vides little elbow-room to spend
Sebastian Morris of IIM-A is more higher amounts, and allow the deficit
specific. The actual expenditure env
and how. Worse, no one to go out of hand. The government
isaged by the government is Rs knows the way out. cannot borrow endlessly, or print
92,000 crore, of which Rs 54,000 more notes. These can lead to both
crore will boost private consumption, predictable and unintended outcomes.
and the rest will contribute to public One of them is the fear of a down-
investment and spending. grade, both of the nation’s credit rat-
To understand the contentions of ing, as well as those of the Indian
Sen and Morris, one needs to differen- companies. Since the Financial Crisis
tiate between, and dissect, the two of 2008, when the global rating agen-
main components of the package. A cies were severely criticised for failure
portion of it is to indirectly help busi- to predict it, these institutions have
nesses—for example, through loans become nervous. They are willing to
COVER
COVID-19
STORY
“The stage is set to rebuild

industry and economy. Listening
to the measures gave us confi-
dence, our government is ready
and will lead from the front.”
Sangita Reddy
FICCI President
“MSMEs are India’s backbone.

Liquidity and credit guarantees
for banks and NBFCs will help
remove hesitation in lending.
Friction-free implementation
can slowly convert adversity
to advantage.”
Kunal Bahl
Co-founder and CEO of Snapdeal
“This is the size of support

required, given the state of the
economy...It is important this
10% be truly in addition to the
already committed government
expenditure and interventions,
and is not a reclassification.”
Azim Premji
J I T E N D E R G U P TA
Founder, Wipro
22 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020
PTI
downgrade any country at the first ies? Similarly, the package included
signs of trouble. The medium term an assurance of prompt payments of
implications of a lower rating can be a Corona in pending dues to ease cash-flows of
ruthless and ongoing negative effect
on the economy. India cannot afford Wonderland # 2 the MSMEs.
Experts question the efficacy of the
to take such risks at this juncture. loan windows given to the MSMEs.
Sparks to Spur Supply “If you want to get “The stimulus is largely through credit
guarantee scheme of Rs 300,000
A large chunk of the revival package— crore. This is contingent liability, and
some say a glaring majority of it—is to somewhere else, there is no infusion of money. This
benefit companies, especially the does not ensure the desired multi-
small and medium (MSMEs) ones. It you must run at plier effect, as is the case with direct
seems that the government feels that investment (transfer),” explains
if it gives enough indirect incentives
to such units, they can be propelled
least twice fast Vikas Srivastava of IIM-K. One isn’t
sure if the banks, plagued with bad
into action, and pull the economy out
of the present malaise. Such benefits
as that.” loans and write-offs, will offer credit.
There is a concern that firms may use
include easy loans, tremendous flexi- It doesn’t matter if the the money foolishly, resulting in
bility in labour laws—Uttar Pradesh more bad loans in the future.
suspended all of them, except three— stimulus size is Rs 2,000,000 Subhash Garg, the former central fi-
ease of doing business, prompt pay- crore. We need another nance secretary, estimates that the
ments, and potential orders. Rs 800,000 crore in government promised to provide such
For instance, only an Indian com- loans to 4.5 million MSMEs. The fig-
pany can now bid for procurement direct spending. ure is only a small percentage of 75
tenders up to Rs 200 crore each issued million units in this sector. Politics,
by public sector firms. This can lead to crony capitalism, and favouritism may
more business for the MSMEs. play a role in the disbursement of the
However, the definition of an Indian funds. Instead of firms, which are in a
company is unclear. Will it include position to turn around and become
purely “desi’ entrepreneurs with ma- profitable, the money may go to those
jority Indian stakes, or also foreign that use it inefficiently, or siphon it off.
MNCs that have set up fully-owned In a crisis like this one, there may be
and majority-owned Indian subsidiar- no checks and balances.
OUTLOOKINDIA.COM J U NE 1 , 2 0 2 0 | OU T LOOW K 23
COVER
COVID-19
STORY
To ease labour shortages, especially

due to reverse migration of workers
from the uncertainty of their urban
workplaces to the security and safety
of villages, several states drastically
changed their laws. These measures
will provide flexibility to factory own-
ers to hire-and-fire workers, hike
working hours by 50 per cent, and
limit expenses under many heads. The
states feel that these will increase for-
eign investment, and incentivise ent
repreneurs to open their shutters, and
enhance production.
Clearly, the flip side is that the new
guidelines, or the lack of them, will ac-
celerate reverse migration, and dis-
suade workers, especially the
migrants, to come back. They may
rather seek employment in areas
closer to their homes, or opt for inc
ome-generating schemes like
MNREGA, whose budget was recently
hiked by the Centre as a part of its rec
overy package. If this happens, it will
derail the economy for a longer period.
Instead of a V-shape upturn, one may
witness a dreaded U-shape one.
Cures to Catapult
Consumption
Given the nature of the COVID-19 cri-
sis, the dire need of the hour was to
push demand. The loss of millions of
jobs, and salary reductions implied
that the government had to put more
money in the pockets of both urban
and rural consumers. This could be in
the form of direct money transfer to
the poor, aid in the form of free and
cheap food items, lower across-the-
board taxes to hike disposable in-
comes, and a fillip to welfare schemes
that generate incomes. The Centre
has done all this. Economists feel it
hasn’t done enough.
Expenditure on MNREGA, which
was reduced in this year’s Budget, was
recently hiked by Rs 40,000 crore. In
addition, the poor and migrant work-
ers were promised additional alloca-
tion of free grains and pulses to
prevent starvation. Economists think
that one of key problems with
MNREGA was the delays in payments.
If they persist, the higher allocation
will lose its relevance because the
people need the money now, rather
than a month or two later. The free
A P O O R VA S A L K A D E
24 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

COVER
COVID-19
STORY
monthly ration is inadequate to feed a structural reforms. Morris says that

typical family.
The problem lies with the meagre Corona in while the policies are in the “right direc-
tion”, they will not work “due to height-
transfer of cash into the bank ac-
counts of the suffering sections. Wonderland # 3 ened global and domestic uncertainty”.
Theoretically, the moves to allow
“There is a very small fiscal component farmers to “sell their produce freely”
(in the package) that is directly con-
tributed from the central exchequer.
“I don’t think....” through deregulation of the trade in
several commodities, is laudable. But
The fiscal (direct) stimulus is much
less than what was given during the “Then you should these may benefit the farmers over
the next few years. In the short run,
2008 crisis,” says D.K. Srivastava, chief they are unable to trade, says Alagh.
policy advisor, EY India. Individuals not talk.” He adds that the trade channels are
and companies received no major tax “clogged” and there is “lack of clarity”
concessions, except a delay in post- You cannot think that strict about freight movement. The Centre
ponement of taxes, and a reduction in labour laws will get workers to and states don’t have the plans to pre-
tax deducted at source, which is a vent the hijacking of the freer distri-
temporary relief.
produce more. And talk about bution routes by rich famers,
Let’s take a look at what was done for higher MNREGA spending to middlemen, and large companies.
the farm sector. Y. K. Alagh, a ren keep them in villages. Instead of the big bang reforms, which
owned economist, points out that could have come later once the econ-
most decisions related to the older omy perked up a bit, there was a need to
schemes and policies, like the farmer introduce smaller changes and altera-
producer organisation. “They will lead tions to tackle the immediate needs. For
to more benefits only if the govern- example, local and regional economic
ment puts money into them. Neither linkages should have received priority.
is there real funding for such schemes, One of the major problems of partial
nor is it under a rule-based system,” lockdown today, and the division of the
he adds. In effect, in the recent past, country into red, orange and green
there were huge mismatches between zones, is the mess they have created in
budget allocations for agriculture, and India Inc. Business are unable to cope
actual annual spending.
One of the ways to do so was to give
Corona in with the confusion among the authori-
ties. “My factory is in the green zone,
more leeway to the states to hike their Wonderland # 4 distributors are in the orange one, and
expenditure. While the Centre has warehouses are in the red zone. I am
relied on the states to initiate pro-act
ive steps, it was done without giving
“It’s no use going essentially immobilised. I cannot com-
mence operations,” complains a leading
them the required resources. Delhi-based businessman. The situa-
Although the states were allowed to back to yesterday, tion is the same for scores of others. In
borrow more, it was to a limited ext addition, the factories may be in the
ent, and one isn’t sure how the because I was a green zones, but the labour has to come
amount will be utilised, says Joshi. from red and orange ones. Clearly, there
Sen contends that the states “front-
ended their borrowings”, which will
different person was a need to look at the opening up of
the lockdown in a more comprehensive
lead to a crunch later on. The Centre
needs to be the chief financier so that
then.” manner from the business point of view.
Going forward, suggests EY’s
the states can deliver. One cannot compare Srivastava, the government needs to
learn its lessons. This may be an oppor-
2008 with 2020. Those were tune time to locate new industries in
Reluctant Reforms different times with different specific, well-thought-out rural-urban
and Reformers heads of states, and corridors so that businesses can use lo-
Reforms are best done when the econ- cally-available resources like labour,
omy is in a good shape. Unfortunately,
state of the economy and logistics. The overall industrial
in India, as in other countries, they are policy has to be re-examined in this
pursued during extreme crises. In 1991, context. COVID-19 has impacted us in
they were kicked off by a bal- myriad ways that were both unex-
ance-of-payment emergency. In the pected and unbelievable. It’s high time
early 2000s, they were forced by US that the nation moves ahead in ways
sanctions due to India’s nuclear tests in that can lead to growth, and protect the
1998. Today, COVID-19 has encouraged economy from similar crises at a later
the regime to announce long-delayed date. The future, as they say, is here. O
COVER
COVID-19
STORY
Bully in
Bear Den
In this Great Lockdown, why some stocks shot up by 60-70
per cent? What explains such bewildering trends?
Yagnesh Kansara in Mumbai
The global stock markets can be irrational,

as well as rooted in facts. They can behave in
mysterious ways, as well as in a manner that’s
logical and commonsensical. Sometimes, they
move in sync and, at other times, they show ob-
stinacy towards each other. This interplay can
lead to trends that are both weird and scien-
tific. Nothing epitomises this better than the
defiance and convergence between the indices
like the Dow Jones and NASDAQ in America,
and the Indian Sensex over the few months
during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
I L LU S T R AT I O N : S A A H I L B H AT I A

PTI
On February 12 this year, the India’s wealthiest person, Mukesh of the Great Lockdown—a few stocks
American Dow Jones was at a high of Ambani. From a price of almost Rs zoomed by 60-70 per cent.
29,551. It dipped by 37 per cent in 39 1,500 on February 19, the scrip took a Economists and stock experts give
days (March 23). Over the next 57 deep dive to below Rs 900 by March 23. several reasons to explain these bewil-
days, by May 19, it climbed up to over Then it rocketed to a peak of Rs 1,562— dering trends.
24,000, a rise of 30 per cent. A similar the highest in 2020. It seemed as if in-
trend was noticed in the behaviour of vestors, day-traders, and speculators Lockdown Effect
the Sensex. From February 12 to had combined together to propel the American online trading platforms
March 23, it plunged by 37 per cent, stock to new levels. reported unusual increases in vol-
and then soared by 16 per cent by May India Cements is another stock that umes. E-trade said that its volumes in
19. On April 30, the index was at 33,718, seem to buck the overall trend—and April 2020 were thrice as large as in
which signified an upturn of 30 per how. Apart from two small descents, April 2019. TD Ameritrade said that “it
cent from its March 23 low. The simi- and one elongated not-too-low depres- did more than three million trades a
larities were uncanny; the two seemed sion, the stock boomed from Rs 72 on day in April (2020), compared with
closely coupled. February 18 to Rs 118 on May 19, a two- 817 thousand a year earlier”. Richard
In comparison, the NASDAQ, which thirds escalation. On May 15, the scrip Thaler, a Nobel Prize winner told an
comprises technology stocks, seemed its 52-week high, and there were days, American weekly that investors possi-
to defy the insidious impact of the like February 26, when it hit the daily bly have time on their hands due to
coronavirus pandemic. From its high upper circuit, i.e. the specific top limit lockdowns. “It could be that it’s just a
in February, it tumbled by 30 per cent for the daily increase in the price of lot of people have a lot of time on their
by March 23, but then surprisingly— each stock. Of course, there is a narra- hands,” he explained.
actually shockingly—it almost regained tive that drove the scrip crazy, but we According to a recent piece in New
the entire losses. On May 19, it stood at will discuss it later. Yorker, gamblers, who could not go to
9,185, only marginally down from its The obvious question is: What’s hap- the casinos, shifted attention to stocks
high of 9,818. Was this movement pening to the global indices, and indi- to use their speculative skills to make a
rational or irrational? Why did the vidual stocks? It doesn’t make sense killing on the exchange. A fast-moving
Dow Jones and Sensex rebound during for the indices to bounce back during market, which goes up and down by a
the period when both the respective the worst period of the pandemic, few hundred points to a few thousand
economies were shuttered. when the entire world was paralysed— ones almost on a daily basis, is attrac-
Before we answer these questions, a or at least most parts of it. It is unfath- tive to the day-traders. They are inter-
look at a couple of stocks will add to the omable that when comparisons were ested in price movements that can be
complexities and creepiness of the being made with the Great Depression as small as 50 paise a day. For them to
stock markets. One of them is Reliance of 1930s—Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s be able to earn Rs 5-10 a share, which is
Industries, which is promoted by chief economist, called 2020 the year inevitable in a volatile market, is a
COVER
COVID-19
STORY
dream come true. latter. Simultaneously, Reliance The stock price of Avenue Supermarts,
Retail, Mukesh Ambani’s retail opera- owned by Damani, shot up from just
Optimism Effect tions, inked a commercial partnership above Rs 600 in March 2017 to Rs
It is firmly believed among certain sec- with FB-owned WhatsApp. The for- 2,454 on May 20 this year. It is almost
tions that the stock markets are quick mer will support small businesses at the same level as its previous high on
to react upwards, sometimes much be- on WhatsApp. February 13, 2020. Like Reliance
fore the crisis ends. Hence, the re- Cash-rich companies, which haven’t Industries and India Cements,
bound in stocks can happen before the been hurt much by the coronavirus, Damani’s stock seems to be
uptick in economic growths. In recent may use the lower stock prices as an COVID-proof.
times, this was witnessed in the US opportunity to buy back their shares, Safer investors, who are sitting on
markets towards the end of 2018, and instead of using the money in its cof- cash, are also lured during a crisis to
beginning of the next year. There is an fers to pay higher dividends or issues invest in known blue chips, which are
undying belief that the V-shape curve shares for free through bonus issues. A available at lower prices, but are bound
is inevitable during the recoveries of few experts envisage a flooding of buy- to do well when the going becomes
equities from their bottom. The inves- back offers from the promoters in the good. Among the Indian stocks, these
tors think that the central banks and near future. Such hopes among the include renowned MNCs, as well as
governments won’t fail them. investors have the tendency to push up Indian firms that have consistently
Robert Shiller, another Nobel Prize prices of select stocks. If these stocks done well, and are managed profes-
winner known for his book, Irrational happen to be heavyweights, they influ- sionally. Such secure buying, along
Exuberance, said in an interview that ence the indices. with opportunistic ones, has an up-
the V-shape conviction isn’t true. ward impact on stock indices.
He explained that the bear mar-
ket of the Great Recession of Loss-aversion Bias
2007-08 began in September Almost three decades ago, Amos
2007, and the market didn’t bot- Teversky and Daniel Kahneman
tom out till February 2009. demonstrated what is called the
During the Great Depression, loss-aversion bias among hu-
the fall “began with the Wall mans. It contends that “losses
Street crash of October 1929 and are twice as powerful compared
lasted until the middle of 1932”. to equivalent gains”. Thus, a loss
During the period, the US mar- of Rs 100 will give twice as grief
ket was depressed by 80 per cent, to a person, compared to the
and “did not hit new highs” till happiness with a similar Rs 10
the 1950s. gain. In practice, it implies that
most of us display a tendency to
‘Promoters’ Impact be risk-averse, rather than seek
Companies that had scheduled risk. This can manifest in differ-
their rights issues are expected PTI ent ways in varying situations.
to get a tepid response in these mar- In the case of owners of stocks, the
ket conditions. Hence, their promot- Cash Factor bias reflects in propensity to retain
ers may be expected to react in several In times like these, when the markets them, even if the prices are considera-
ways. A few may urge their loyal bro- and most other asset categories are bly down, and the best option is to sell.
kers, and supportive institutional in- down, cash becomes the king. Most in- Investors continue to hold to
vestors, to go on a buying spree to vestors try to remain liquid, and adopt loss-making stocks in the hope that
maintain stock prices, or even drive a wait-and-watch attitude. But this prices will go up in the near future.
them northwards. Others may accept may not be true of aggressive and large This is most evident during stock crisis
the inevitable, and directly or indi- investors, who see the lower prices as and market crashes, when it may be
rectly subscribe to the portions of the an opening to increase their stakes. better to sell, stay in cash, and buy the
issues that remain unsold. They will Take the case of Radhakishan Damani same or other stocks at lower prices.
wish to sell these shares later at who, along with family members, in- On an overall basis, this reduces the
higher prices. creased his stake in the Chennai-based selling pressure, and increases the
One of the reasons for the spurt in India Cements to almost 20 per cent. chances of an upward volatility.
the Reliance Industries’ counter over This was the major reason for the The above factors contribute to the
the past few months was the expecta- stock’s recent spurt. volatility, and result in short phases of
tion of the rights issue, which opened Damani has emerged as a major upward and down movement of the in-
on May 20. Another positive for the Indian entrepreneur. He is ranked No. dices. Rest assured that if the negatives
stock was Facebook’s decision to in- 2 richest Indian, with a wealth of overshadow the positives, the bears
vest Rs 43,574 crore in Reliance Jio nearly $17 billion, on the Forbes ‘Real- can crush the markets for longer peri-
(telecom arm) platforms. In return, Time List’ of the world’s wealthiest, be- ods. Obviously, the bulls gain an upper
FB acquired 9.99 per cent stake in the hind Mukesh Ambani ($52.6 billion). hand if the opposite becomes true. O

Episode - 4
Six
Years of
Modi
Sarkaar
Bhupender Yadav Bhavna Vij-Aurora
Rajya Sabha MP and Political Editor,
BJP General Secretary Outlook
join us on
on
May 23, Saturday, 6:00 pm
COVER STORY
OPINION/SUBHASH GARG FO R M E R F I N A N C E A N D EC O N O M I C
A F FA I R S S EC R E TA RY
Missing the Real Kick

The ‘stimulus’ cost little and will deliver even less
THE lockdown imposed in

March knocked down the
was diluted to 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the scheme. Additional loans
might substitute their normal increase in credit limits. Only the future
economy, causing a GDP will tell how many MSMEs will get the additional loans. What the MSMEs
loss of over Rs 20 lakh needed were grants to tide over the difficult times.
crore and rendering over 100 million More than half of the package comprises liquidity measures. Liquidity is
workers jobless. The finance minister neither credit nor stimulus. It only ensures that the financial system does
delivered a huge ‘economic stimulus’ not freeze and keeps functioning. These measures are, however, the fla-
in five tranches. Will it lead to survival vour of the season. The RBI’s support to banks and governments, of about
and revival, and put the economy back Rs 8 lakh crore, was announced in March and April. It has proved to be a
on the rails, or will it act like a mere dud so far. The banks have returned more liquidity to the RBI by deposit-
band-aid? ing Rs 8 lakh crore.
About 70 per cent of businesses The largest liquidity measures envis-
remained shuttered in the first 40 days age the clearance of outstanding pay-
since March 24. Nearly 50 per cent ments of DISCOMs. State-owned
were closed until the end of the next NBFCs, like PFC and REC, would pro-
phase, i.e. May 17. A third of the econ- vide loans of Rs 90,000 crore to
omy is likely to be disrupted during the DISCOMs to clear the dues of pow-
ongoing Lockdown 4.0. The economic er-generating companies like NTPC and
pain has fallen disproportionately on other suppliers. Clearing of bills is no
small businesses and their workers. stimulus. It merely substitutes creditor
Many jobs might be permanently lost. A by creditor B.
Firms as well as employees needed fis- In another measure, the government
cal support to survive the catastrophe. promised guarantee to special purpose
The stimulus was required to generate vehicles (SPVs) for raising loans of Rs
consumption and investment demand. About 70 million 30,000 crore to buy investment grade
The design and contents of the pack- papers of NBFCs, HFCs and micro-fi-
age are striking. It uses credit channel micro enterprises, nance institutions. They have a long ges-
(more than 90 per cent) to deliver its which suffered the tation period. When will the SPV be
punch. The fiscal impact is less than Rs created, when will it raise loans, and
1.5 lakh crore (0.75 per cent of GDP). It most, will not get when will it buy such papers? The other
rolls in four principal interventions— decision was to make more assets eligi-
the RBI’s support to banks, banks’
the loans. They ble for the Rs 45,000 crore scheme of
credit to small businesses, creation of need grants to ride partial risk guarantee, which was
infrastructure through borrowings, and announced in Budget 2019. This has not
immediate clearance of pending bills. out the storm. taken off, and is unlikely to.
The first tranche of stimulus prom- A number of announcements were
ised additional credit of Rs 3 lakh made to target infrastructure investments. A ‘fund of fund’ was proposed
crore, backed by government guaran- to channellise equity of Rs 50,000 crore in MSMEs. Another Rs 1 lakh
tee, to 4.5 million standard MSMEs—a crore agri infrastructure fund was aimed to build farm-gate infrastruc-
miniscule percentage of the total 75 ture. A Rs 10,000 crore scheme was also proposed for formalisation of
million MSMEs. About 70 million micro food enterprises. An additional Rs 20,000 crore was to flow to fish-
micro enterprises, which suffered the ermen through Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana.
most, will not get the loans. In addi- Most of these funds and schemes are part of the existing budget.
tion, the credit-worthiness of 4.5 mil- Building a ‘fund of fund’ is an impossible feat. Likewise, re-financing
lion firms weakened during the earlier farm-gate infrastructure through banks, cooperative institutions etc will
lockdown. The banks will be averse to take years. From the fiscal point of view, though, the government struck a
grant additional credit to them. good deal. There is a saying in Hindi, “heeng lage na fitkari, rang bhi choko
SIDBI issued a scheme on May 16 to hoye” (Without too much effort, you can generate vibrant colours). The
operationalise the government guar- stimulus will not cost much to the government. But, in this case, it will not
antee. A fifth of the credit assurance lead to survival support. O (Views are personal)

World Going
Towards Greater
Insularity
Says
Dr. Shashi
Tharoor
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
on
Corona and
the new world
order
In conversation with
Satish Padmanabhan
Executive Editor, Outlook
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON

COVER STORY INTERVIEW/SWADESHI ECONOMY
T R I B H VA N T I WA R I
Swadeshi Jagran Manch

(SJM), an affiliate of the
RSS, is gung-ho over Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
call for an Atmanirbhar
Bharat as part of the
post-pandemic economic
revival. SJM national
co-convenor Ashwani
Mahajan tells Bhavna
Vij-Aurora that it is a vindi-
cation of the organisation’s
30-year-long struggle, and it
is time to repose trust in
indigenous talent, resources
and knowledge.
Prime Minister Narendra

Modi announced the Rs 20
‘Vocal-for-local will
lakh crore COVID-19 pack-
age and called for self-reli-
ance or ‘Atmanirbhar
Bharat Abhiyan’. Are you
stop unfair Chinese

happy with the move?
➞ The Prime Minister has
echoed what the Swadeshi
Jagran Manch has been say-
ing over the past 30 years. It
is a vindication of our long
struggle to see India eco-
nomically independent and
dumping of goods’
self-reliant. We are support-
ing the government com- small-scale entrepreneurs, There is still some ambigu-
pletely in this endeavour academicians, technocrats, ity about what defines Indian equity is more than
and launched a pan-India industry and trade leaders, ‘local’ in context of 51 per cent.
Swadeshi Swavlamban to spread awareness and swadeshi. Does it mean There is hardly any case for
Abhiyan (self-reliance cam- promote swadeshi or local products manufactured by ambiguity. Local means a
paign) from May 19 to products. We will also dis- Indians within the country? product used at the local
spread awareness. tribute lists of such products. Or will it include products level, produced by our indig-
This is the time for hand- made in India by MNCs? enous industry—small,
How does your campaign holding of local, small-scale ➞ When you say local, it is medium or cottage industry.
dovetail with the govern- manufacturers, artisans and the narrowest form of It also includes GIs (Geo-
ment’s self-reliance call? small businesses. District- swadeshi. In addition to graphical Indications) like
➞ We are drawing a compre- level committees will be con- goods made by Indian man- Kancheepuram silk,
hensive plan to involve peo- stituted involving people ufacturers, it would also Moradabad metal craft, Firo-
ple from all walks of life, from industry and trade encompass companies with zabad glass and Blue pottery
including workers, farmers, activists for this purpose. foreign equity but where of Jaipur. It also means
32 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

COVER STORY INTERVIEW/SWADESHI ECONOMY
decentralised production globalisation, with lessons in tectionism is seen as a dirty What is your view on priva-
model and use of domestic self-reliance. Two weeks word, with negative connota- tisation of PSUs in non-stra-
resources and talent. before the Prime Minister tions, in the past three dec- tegic sectors that the
talked about it in his address, ades. It is not a crime. The government has
You believe that the local sarsanghchalak ji (RSS chief government, for the first announced? Your sister
indigenous industries need Mohan Bhagwat) had called time, in February 2018, organisation, the Bharatiya
a push? for national reconstruction raised tariff to protect our Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), has
➞ It’s unfortunate that pol- through swadeshi and self- industry. The trade deficit opposed it.
icy makers in the past never reliance. He had also talked with China had come down ➞ We have always been
reposed trust in indigenous about the model based on from $63 billion in 2017-18 to against privatisation, espe-
talent, resources and knowl- decentralisation, using indig- $53 billion in 2018-19. It has cially the strategic route to
edge. There was over-emp enous talent, giving employ- come down further. disinvestment of PSUs that
hasis on public sector and ment to our youth. Also, to make self-reliance was undertaken under the
later on foreign capital and It can also be called work, the government needs Vajpayee government. We
MNCs. PM Modi’s call of ‘sanatan’, invoking the phi- to do major structural are also against disinvest-
‘vocal for local’ is a pleasant losophy of integral human- changes. Most industries ment of BPCL and Air India
departure from the existing ism as put forth by are working below capacity. as planned by this govern-
policy based on globalisa- Deendayal Upadhyaya and Jobs have to be created. ment. These issues must be
tion and liberalisation, later by Dattopant Theng- India has so much potential. resolved. We have seen the
especially foreign capital adi. We are seeing its adop- If we can launch 104 satel- resolution of BMS, and are
dependent model of tion in a new context. lites in a single rocket into in the process of making up
development. space, why can’t we manu- our mind on supporting it.
It is time to revive those There is a fear among some facture computer parts that
local industries that were sections that the emphasis we import from China. Lastly, what do you have
taken for granted in the era on local may make India to say about thousands of
of globalisation. It is also isolationist? Do you think that in the migrants walking home
time to usher in economic ➞ This is not isolation. We post-lockdown world, India in misery? Do you think
policies that produce wel- are not breaking relations has an opportunity to that the government has
fare, sustainable incomes, with other countries. We are enhance its economic might failed them?
help job creation and, all in ➞ I don’t think, the govern-
all, put faith in the people. ment has failed them. The
There are more than 700 government has made all
MSME clusters in the coun- efforts in taking them home.
try with a long and prosper- “The virus outbreak has already Even the states have made
ous history of industrial efforts. Civil society—the
development. Many of these accelerated the collapse of the RSS and many NGOs—is
clusters lost their sheen due
to unfair competition from
existing model of globalisation... also working hard.
At this point, I want to ask
China and unfair import no logic in blindly importing in all policy-makers and glo-
policies. They have to be balisation apologists—that if
supported and strengthened the name of free trade.” globalisation was a suc-
by all means so that they not cess—why are the majority
only create employment moving towards fair trade. at the cost of China? of labourers still in this
opportunities but also pro- China has been dumping ➞ This thought is being shape? Over 37 per cent
duce high-quality products goods in our country since echoed everywhere. The children between one and
in the most economical cost. years, killing almost all our world over countries are five years are still stunted.
More such industrial clus- manufacturing industry. The realising that self-reliance, The average wages, from
ters would be identified at government has risen to the or rather self-sufficiency, is 1991 to 2016-17, had gone up
the district level all over the occasion and there has been a the best policy. China is by seven per cent, while
country for ushering in conscious effort to ban Chi- going to be the biggest loser, inflation went up by 6.5 per
future growth in nese goods. Even Piyush losing out on various counts. cent, barely leaving any sur-
manufacturing. Goyal (minister of commerce One, on demand, as it is plus for the people.
and industry) had earlier said bound to face cancellation They were in the same
Do you think the coronavi- at a meeting with us that we of orders. Second, by reloca- miserable position 50 years
rus outbreak has nudged the are proud to be swadeshi. tion of various MNCs from ago. It is all because of eco-
country towards swadeshi? Protection of our people and their soil. And last, it is nomic policies of the Con-
➞ There is definitely a con- industry against unfair trade going to lose infra projects gress. Those who are
text here. Coronavirus has is not a crime. There is no in over 65 countries that responsible are now
already accelerated the col- logic in blindly importing in were part of China’s Belt shedding crocodile tears at
lapse of the existing model of the name of free trade. Pro- and Road Initiative. their plight. O
CINEMA/PRIME CUT
Small Screen,
Big Locha
As movies release directly on streaming platforms
during the lockdown, theatre owners seethe and
threaten ‘retributive’ measures
Giridhar Jha a deathly silence. Reeling under the

impact of extended lockdowns, thea-
T
tres across the country have been
HE week around Eid wearing a desolate look shorn of glitz
ul-Fitr is a carnival for for more than two-and-a-half months.
multiplexes teeming Worse still, there are no signs of things
with movie buffs united by their looking up anytime soon.
shared love for Salman Khan. This unexpected twist was not there in
Undeterred by an overnight hike the original B-town script until March
in ticket prices, they wait for this year when everything looked hunky-
their turn to see their beloved dory on the business front. With Akshay
Bhai—as the 54-year-old star is Kumar setting up a clash of titans by opt-
known among his die-hard ing for an Eid release of his eager-
admirers—unleash magic yet ly-awaited Laxmmi Bomb on May 22
again on the big screen. alongside Salman’s Radhe: Your Most
But as fate would have it, there Wanted Bhai, multiplex owners seemed
is no activity at all now, let alone to be in for a double delight.
celebrations, at multiplexes, just Almost all of Salman’s Eid releases
were mega blockbusters, creating a
record enviable enough to deter the
biggest of his competitors. However,
Hit Hiatus Akshay Kumar in Laxmmi Bomb buoyed by his recent successes, Akshay
(left) and Kapil Dev’s biopic ’83 dared to grab a slice of Salman’s

CINEMA/PRIME CUT
Reeling While Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai’s (top left) release has been postponed,
Gulabo Sitabo (top right) and Shakuntala Devi (bottom) are releasing on OTT platforms
box-office pie on Eid. It was, of course, Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala Devi, a biopic
a win-win situation for multiplex own- of the legendary ‘human computer’.
ers, who looked forward to the immi- Sircar’s Amitabh Bachchan-
nent showdown between two of the Ayushmann Khurrana starrer will be
biggest superstars with bated breath, released directly on Amazon Prime
little realising what was in store for Video on June 12. Five big movies from
them in the weeks ahead. the south—Ponmagal Vandhal (Tamil),
Forced by the prolonged closure of Penguin (Tamil/Telugu), Law
cinema halls, with little chance of (Kannada), Sufiyum Sujatayum
them reopening soon, filmmakers (Malayalam) and French Biryani
are now turning to the over-the-top (Kannada) will also stream on digital
(OTT) platforms for direct digital platforms within the next three
releases of their movies. On May months in the face of growing uncer-
22, a Friday when the industry tainty over reopening of theatres.
expected a Salman-versus-Akshay “At Prime Video, we believe in listen-
duel, it will be Nawazuddin ing to what our consumers want and
Siddiqui’s chance to hog the lime- working backwards from there,” says
light by default as his long-in-the- Vijay Subramaniam, director and head,
making Ghoomketu is bypassing content, of the Indian arm of the global
the traditional route of a theatri- OTT platform. “Over the past two
cal release to stream on Zee5 for years, Prime Video has become the
OTT audiences. And this may be destination of choice for our custom-
just the tip of the iceberg for the ers to watch new releases across lan-
multi-billion-rupee industry. guages within weeks of their theatrical
There are other movies with releases. We are taking this one step
digital premieres in the pipe- further, with seven of India’s most
line, most notably Shoojit anticipated films premiering exclu-
Sircar’s Gulabo Sitabo and sively on it, bringing the cinematic
experience to their doorsteps.” Adds
Gaurav Gandhi, director and country
general manager, Amazon Prime Video
India, “We feel truly excited about this
initiative and also confident of delight-
ing our members with this offering.”
But what may delight the growing
CINEMA/PRIME CUT
tribe of the OTT audience has come as such fair-weather friends”. up at homes for the past many weeks.
a shocker to multiplex owners, who are INOX’s strongly worded statement We are likely to see demand on a sus-
crying foul over these developments. evoked a sharp response from the tained basis once we reopen.”
Until now, most movies would reach Producers Guild of India. “Statements Gianchandani hopes that producers
Amazon Prime Video, Netflix etc only that call for ‘retributive measures’ will accede to their request to hold
after a few weeks of their theatrical against producers who decide to take back the release of their films till cine-
releases. Therefore, filmmakers’ deci- their movies directly to OTT plat- mas reopen. But as Amitabh Bachchan
sion to opt for direct digital streaming forms—especially at a time when cine- says on his official blog, it’s a situation
sent alarm bells ringing for theatre mas are unfortunately closed for the that cannot be altered now. “.. finances
owners. Fearing a loss in revenues in foreseeable future—do not lend them- and other contractual obligations need
the long run, INOX, a leading theatre selves to a constructive or collaborative consideration .. not just my films there
chain, reacted angrily, calling it a dis- dialogue on the way forward for the are other artists too .. they also need to
concerting move. “INOX would like to industry,” it said in a two-page state- space out their films .. recovery of in-
express extreme displeasure and dis- ment. “The production sector ( just like vestment .. cannot take forever .. if the
appointment on an announcement by the exhibition sector) is suffering hun- digital price is amicable then they go
a production house to release their dreds of crores of losses daily as elabo- for it .. it is the future .. the option to
movie directly on an OTT platform by rate and expensive sets erected for release in theatres later always open ..
skipping the theatrical window run. under-production films have had to be that contained in the terms .. so yes in
The decision of the production house taken down. Huge cancellation charges time there could be theatre release as
to deviate from the globally prevalent are being borne by producers even as well .. others wait for the results of dig-
content windowing practice is alarm- interest costs are mounting on amounts ital release to make decisions on their
ing and disconcerting,” it announced a raised to fund films.” films .. (sic)” he wrote on May 14.
day after filmmaker Shoojit Sircar But INOX is not alone. Another mul- Thankfully for multiplexes, none of
revealed plans to take Gulabo Sitabo tiplex major, PVR Pictures, which op- the big-ticket extravaganzas starring
directly to Amazon Prime Video. erates a cinema circuit comprising 841 reigning Bollywood superstars, their
Reminding filmmakers of the ‘mutu- screens at 176 properties in 71 cities in biggest revenue generators, have fallen
ally beneficial partnerships’ they have India and Sri Lanka, also expressed its for the OTT bait yet. Rohit Shetty’s
shared over the years, INOX stressed disappointment with producers decid- multi-starrer Sooryavanshi featuring
the need for standing shoulder to ing to go straight to streaming plat- Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn and
shoulder. “Such acts, though isolated, forms. “We believe that theatrical Ranveer Singh along with Katrina Kaif,
vitiate the atmosphere of mutual part- release is the best way for audiences to which was supposed to release on
nership and paint these content pro- experience the labour and creative March 24, and Kabir Khan’s Ranveer
ducers as fair-weather friends rather genius of our filmmakers. This has Singh-starrer ’83, which was slated for
than all-weather, lifelong partners,” it been so for decades and not just in April 10, have been put on hold indefi-
said, adding that it would now be “con- India but globally,” says Kamal nitely. Similarly, Salman Khan’s big-
strained to examine” its options while Gianchandani, CEO, PVR Pictures. budget Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai,
reserving all rights, including taking “The COVID-19 crisis has caused an said to be based on Korean action-
retributive measures in “dealing with unfortunate shutdown of cinemas. We thriller The Outlaws, will not be
are confident that once we get to the released soon.
other side of this crisis, there would be Meanwhile, speculation is rife that
Will They? Coolie No. 1 (left) enough and more pent-up demand all these movies might be released
and Gunjan Saxena from cine-goers who have been cooped directly on OTT platforms. There are
36 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

Thappad was
written keeping
me in mind
Says
Actor
Taapsee
Pannu
on her career in films and future plans
Columnist & Author
on
Bollywood
TALKies with
Episode - 3
WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON
CINEMA/PRIME CUT
Showstoppers Laal Singh Chaddha dented situation. “Since it will take a All these factors have contributed to
(left) and Sooryavanshi while before normalcy and footfalls Bollywood’s gradual shift from thea-
are restored, it is only reasonable for tres to OTT platforms. Already, there
also rumours about digital platforms producers to unlock their investments are talks about movies such as Varun
offering astronomical sums to the through digital platforms,” he says. Dhawan’s Coolie No. 1, Amitabh
makers of these films. The Radhe team, “This is more likely in the small-to- Bachchan’s Jhund, Janhvi Kapoor’s
however, has denied that it was negoti- mid-film segments. Large films may or Gunjan Saxena and Rajkummar Rao’s
ating a deal worth Rs 250 crore with an may not opt for these deals as their Ludo going directly to OTT platforms
OTT platform for the release of theatrical component is large and they in the weeks to come. Some say even
Salman’s next movie. ’83 director can hold on for longer.” Akshay Kumar’s Laxxmi Bomb might
Kabir Khan too makes it clear that Andhare claims that producers’ move release soon on Disney-Hotstar. The
since his films are meant for a big- to shift to OTT platforms should not pandemic has also cast a cloud on the
screen experience, he, along with other be viewed as bypassing of theatres as timely release of many upcoming mov-
stakeholders, has decided to wait for they remain the most central compo- ies such as Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh
the reopening of theatres. Filmmaker nent of the cinema value chain. Chaddha, Ranvir Kapoor’s Brahmastra
Karan Johar, whose Gunjan Saxena “Normalcy will return. The only and Alia Bhatt’s Gangubai Kathiawadi,
starring Janhvi Kapoor was slated for question is when,” he says. which are all due later this year.
release on April 24, has cautioned the It is this ‘when’ conundrum that is Interestingly, this is not a new phe-
media against conjecturing about adding to filmmakers’ insecurities and nomenon in Bollywood. Films like
movies going directly to digital plat- driving them to OTT platforms. With Rishi Kapoor’s Rajma Chawal (2018),
forms. “My hugest request to my the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases Vicky Kaushal’s Love Per Square Foot
media friends not to reach any across the country—particularly in (2018) and more recently, Sushant
assumptions on our fraternity films … Mumbai, Hindi cinema’s biggest mar- Singh Rajput’s Drive (2019) released
these are challenging times for the ket—the prospects of theatres reopen- directly on OTT platforms in the past
business and false news only makes ing soon look bleak. The lucrative without multiplexes batting an eyelid.
the situation worse! Please wait for overseas territory is also out of bounds, Even in Hollywood, a movie as big as
official news on any account!! This is a further aggravating filmmakers’ prob- Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (2019)
humble request (sic),” he tweeted. lems. Worse, there is no guarantee that followed the same digital route.
Bollywood experts, however, believe the audience would flock to multi- Industry watchers believe that all
that stars and filmmakers, howsoever plexes immediately upon resumption stakeholders in the Indian film indus-
big, cannot reverse the trend now. “The of shows owing to fears of contagion try—actors, filmmakers and exhibi-
die is cast, but they remain in a denial and the need for social distancing. tors—will have to learn to live with the
mode. A few big studios with deep pock- fact that the OTT platforms, a cheaper
ets may keep the release of their films option than multiplexes, cannot sim-
on hold for a year or so, but what about ply be wished away. With penetration
small filmmakers who have borrowed There is no in about 4,000 towns in India and 200
money on steep interest rates? Can guarantee that other countries, Amazon Prime Video,
they afford to do that?” says a trade Netflix etc are here to stay and might
analyst on condition of anonymity. viewers will flock emerge as a game changer in the movie
Ajit Andhare, chief operating officer, business. The film industry as a whole
Viacom18 Studios, says that the indus-
to theatres when and multiplexes in particular should
try is in a crisis caused by an unprece- shows resume. become attuned to this reality. O
38 O U TLO OK | JUNE 1, 2020

Masterspeak
A Webinar Series
Strategies
for Start-Ups
with
K GaneshSerial Entrepreneur
In conversation with
N Mahalakshmi
Editor, Outlook Business
Register Now
Do send in your questions
for Mr. Ganesh and don’t
forget to tune in.
May
28,
Thursday
7:00
PM
Presented by C0-Sponsored by
CRICKET/COMEBACKS
Qaiser Mohammad Ali
D
EPRESSION, the blight that has
its talons sunk across the world,
can melt the doughtiest of
persons. Only a few emerge stronger, but
it takes mental toughness and doggedn
ess. Sarfaraz Khan and younger brother
Musheer, the young cricketers of
Mumbai, seem to have those qualities in
abundance. They not only overcame a
tormenting 2019 but notched up career
best performances in the season that
ended in March.
Even as Sarfaraz was serving a one-
year cooling-off period in 2018-19 sea-
son to qualify to represent Mumbai
again on his return from Uttar Pradesh
after five years, the Mumbai Cricket
Association (MCA) banned Musheer for
three years for indiscipline. As the blues
slowly consumed Musheer, their father-
cum-coach Naushad too succumbed to
depression. The three faced a bleak fu-
ture in cricket—the only thing the fam-
ily lives for. But, guided by a doting
Naushad and some psychiatric therapy,
how the two boys have returned with
stronger resolve and renewed vigour!
They scored runs and dismissed bats-
men almost at will, playing with steely
determination. Hard-hitting middle
order batsman Sarfaraz, 22, finished the
Ranji Trophy tournament with the
highest average in India—154.66—while
plundering 928 runs in six matches,
comprising a fabulous, unbeaten triple
and a double century. Sarfaraz, who had
hammered a record 439 for Rizvi
Springfield in a Harris Shield inter-
school match in 2009, chipped in with
cameos for the Mumbai under-23 team
Sarfaraz Khan finished with the top

average in the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy
Say It Again, The Bat

Is A Lonely Hunter
How brothers Sarfaraz and Musheer fought darkness and came
around to be regarded among Indian cricket’s brightest talents

CRICKET/COMEBACKS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY: EMMANUAL KARBAHRI

for the CK Nayudu Trophy.
“He has had an outstanding season.
There’s no doubt about it. His comeback
was due to his mental toughness and he
has worked hard at his cricketing skills
as well. His father, too, has worked hard.
Both Sarfaraz and Musheer are tal-
ented,” former India and Mumbai cap-
tain Dilip Vengsarkar tells Outlook.
In 2015, a year after a good perfor-
mance at the under-19 World Cup and
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) buy-
ing him for Rs 50 lakh, Naushad had
taken a transfer for Sarfaraz, still a
minor, to Uttar Pradesh due to lack of
opportunities in Mumbai. But the stint
in Uttar Pradesh was unsatisfactory.
Form deserted him too and a serious
knee injury just before 2017 IPL added
to his misery. The consolation: RCB kept scored 125 runs. In the under-19 Cooch
faith in Sarfaraz and retained him for Naushad Khan with his sons, Sarfaraz Behar Trophy, he scored 84 runs and
Rs.1.75 crore at the January 2018 auc- (from left), Musheer, and Moeen, a trainer took a solitary wicket in two matches, as
tion. Finally, a wiser Naushad brought Mumbai lost to Vidarbha in semis in
Sarfaraz back to Mumbai in 2018, but he It was, of course, not simple—not just which he scored a fine 57.
had to sit out the cooling-off period to be for injury-hit Sarfaraz, but also for During their period of crisis last year,
eligible to play in 2019-20. Musheer and Naushad. The MCA had Naushad, a former cricketer, took his
The Sarfaraz of 2020 is vastly different handed its under-16 captain Musheer, sons to play matches in Bangalore,
from the one of 2015. A natural stroke- who was yet to turn 14, a three-year ban Hyderabad, Moradabad, Meerut, Mau
player, he has learned to curb his for ‘indiscipline’ during a Vijay and Azamgarh, to keep their hands in. “It
instincts in red-ball cricket and justified Merchant Trophy match against UP in was a tough period, but a popular couplet
selectors’ decision to pick him with three January 2019. “I expected a lot from my of Nida Fazli inspired me: Safar mein
centuries, including a brilliant triple sons, that’s why I went into depression. dhoop toh hogi jo chal sako to chalo, sabhi
century against Uttar Pradesh—301 not When Sarfaraz came back from UP, I got hain bheed mein, tum bhi nikal sako to
out (391 balls, 30x4, 8x6). His stupen- depressed as I wondered about his car chalo, yahan kisi ko koi rasta nahi deta,
dous Ranji sequence reads: 8, 71 n.o., 36, eer after his cooling-off period—will mujhe girake agar tum sambhal sako to
301 n.o., 226 n.o., 78, 25, 177, and 6—928 Mumbai pick him again?” confesses an chalo (there will be heat and roadblocks
runs at a stratospheric average of 154.66. emotional Naushad. in the journey; you venture out if you can
Former India wicket-keeper Kiran Sarfaraz slew all doubts with his pro- withstand these hurdles),” he recites.
More was impressed too. “Sarfaraz is an lific bat. The icing on the cake was left- Both Sarfaraz and Musheer had to seek
exceptional talent. This season arm spinner Musheer capturing 30 psychiatric help. In 2011, when a
was a game changer for him. He has gone wickets at a miserly average of 9.36 in the Mumbai school wrongfully, and unsuc-
through hell, so he’ll now be prepared to under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy on his cessfully, accused Sarfaraz of age man
take on any challenge…. He’s definitely comeback after his ban was reduced to 11 ipulation, he slipped into depression,
India material,” More tells Outlook. months following an apology. The and Naushad had taken him to a psychi-
Naushad, who motivates his sons by diminutive tweaker, who turned 15 on atrist. Last year, Musheer also saw a psy-
reading couplets from famous ghazals, February 27, bagged two 10-wicket chiatrist in Mumbai, before coming out
says the turnaround is due to a change in match hauls—one in the final against stronger. “Depression is the single larg-
Sarfaraz’s approach. “For example, he Punjab--in four matches to propel est illness in the world that hits every so-
used to dread getting out in the slips. Mumbai to the title triumph. Overall, he cial stratum. We’ve to recognise mental
Now he doesn’t, as he chooses his captured three five-wicket hauls, and health in sports to help athletes bounce
strokes and tries to play the ball along back,” Dr Samir Parikh of Delhi’s Fortis
the ground,” he says. Healthcare tells Outlook.
Sarfaraz, rather nonchalantly, des About his last year’s cooling-off
cribes his game thus: “While playing red Both Sarfaraz and period, Sarfaraz says, “I knew the
ball cricket I try to be patient. If you stay Musheer had to opportunity would come, and for that
at the pitch, you would know what shots I’d have to be prepared. During that
to play. I play my natural game in white seek psychiatric period, I got to understand and know
ball cricket. But, even in longer versions, myself.” Their troubles now a distant
after completing a century I switch to
help. Both came cloud, Sarfaraz and Musheer are well
my natural game. Simple.” out stronger. on their way. O
WIDE ANGLE/SLEEP OUT
Lullaby
Road S A N D I PA N C H AT T E
RJEE
y have slept as
For their entire lives, the
wrapped them, a
the bustle of the streets
n nightly still-
watchful slumber that eve world was
, as the
ness did not dispel. Then ected space.
d un exp
locked indoors, it yielde
pirited, sleepers
Homeless or merely free-s
vens: a woman
grasped at these safe ha
-pa ved courtyard
on a flower-strewn, stone menclature;
Ro ma n no
barely ennobled by
driff of a thorough-
another on the bared mi
atop carts, cars and
fare; men dossed down
nt Catalan slaked
polished surfaces; a defia hral Barcelona
his exhaustion on a sep ulc
y lay pro pri etorial claim to
street. Thus the
mmunal beds
their cities, these giant co no sharers.
where there re we
A P O O R VA S A L K A D E
00 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

WIDE ANGLE/SLEEP OUT
PTI
PTI
“…we lie on
Mother’s bed;
the rising sun
in war paint
dyes us red;
in broad day-
light her
gilded bed-
posts shine/
abandoned,
almost
Dionysian.”
Robert Lowell
SLUGGG/SUBSLUG
PTI
“When I’m in
the middle
of a dream…
Please, don’t
wake me, no,
don’t shake
me/Leave me
where I am,
I’m only
sleeping.”
The Beatles
PTI
44 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

SANS FRONTIERS
WORLD TOUR
FOREIGN
HAND
ISRAEL Chinese ambassador Du Wei,
who had been posted to Israel in Febru-
ary 2020, was found dead in his Tel Aviv
apartment. Initial findings suggest no
foul play. Du, 57, served in Ukraine and
was self-quarantined for two weeks on
arrival to Israel because of coronavirus
I
restrictions. His wife and son were yet
to join him in Israel. RRESPECTIVE of party affiliations, American presidents have
avoided making critical remarks about successors in public. But
recent developments indicate that the tradition may no longer be the
norm. Barack Obama has criticised Donald Trump’s handling of the
coronavirus crisis, saying the outbreak exposed the leadership’s
failings and described the situation as “an absolute chaotic disaster”. In
a recent online address to graduating students the former president
said some officials “aren’t even pretending to be in charge”. The total
death toll in the US is now over 90,000—the highest in the world.
Obama also spoke about the impact the pandemic is having on
Black communities in the US. “A disease like this just spotlights the
BRAZIL President Jair Bolsonaro lost his underlying inequalities and extra burdens that Black communities
second health minister in a month, embar- have historically had to deal with in this country,” he said. African
rassing his government and worrying Americans make up a disproportionate number of coronavirus
citizens. Brazil is a coronavirus hotspot. deaths and hospitalisations in the US.
But instead of tackling the challenge, The Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing campaign for the
politicians have been busy bickering. November presidential election can be cited as reasons for the
Nelson Teich did not give any reason for
former and the current presidents’ public spats. But the US Justice
his departure, merely saying, “Life is full of
Department’s surprising decision to drop all charges against Donald
Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn has
decisions, and I decided to leave.”
brought them to the centre of it.
Obama, who has kept a relatively low profile since leaving office in
January 2017, has rarely spoken out about the actions of his
successor. But in recent days the pair have been engaged in several
“back-and-forths”.
Flynn was forced to resign early in the Trump presidency for lying to
Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russian
government officials. He had also pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents
investigating ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. After years
of legal wrangling, the former three-star general is now a free man.
Obama said, “There is no precedent that anybody can find for
JAPAN The world’s third-largest someone who has been charged with perjury just getting off scot-free.”
economy fell into recession as the He added, “That’s the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that
pandemic’s financial toll continues to basic—not just institutional norms—but our basic understanding of
escalate. Last week, Europe’s biggest rule of law is at risk.” Trump, never shy of criticising his predecessor,
economy, Germany, fell into recession; responded with a flurry of social media posts accusing Obama of
more are likely to face the impact of the engaging in an effort to undermine his presidency. “I wouldn’t be
lockdown. Trade-reliant Japan did not surprised if you see a lot of things happen over the next number of
go into a full lockdown, but a state of weeks,” Trump said after learning of the Flynn news. O
emergency since April severely affected
supply chains and businesses.
THE COVIDICTION
Satish Padmanabhan
Last week Outlook coined a word in its cover story: Covided. Here are some more words
and phrases we learnt during the pandemic and how they may be used in the future.
CO-MORBIDITY: A group HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE OR

of friends with a penchant HCQ: Someone who shows great
for gallows humour. promise but finally disappoints.
‘His first book was a masterpiece
LOCKDOWN: To feel
but then he turned HCQ’. Or one
exasperated, claustrophobic
girl to another: ‘Don’t go by his
and scared. ‘The students felt
six-pack abs, he’s an HCQ.’
lockdowned in the maths class.’
HANDWASH: Boring, routine,
QUARANTINE: A couple not
dull. ‘He calls himself a chef
speaking to each other for a few
but frankly his biryani is a
days after a quarrel.
handwash.’
SOCIAL DISTANCING:
ZOOM: Cacophony,
Keeping away from Twitter,
incoherence. ‘The RWA
FB, Insta for a month to
meeting started off quietly
prevent the disease called
but soon it was all zoom.’
Irrelevant Information.
VACCINE: Something or
MASK: Something half the
someone too late in coming.
experts in the world believe is
‘I waited for her in front of the
the most critical while the other
theatre for over an hour but she
half thinks is utterly useless.
vaccined on me.’
‘Homeopathy, astrology,
climate change, Donald Trump, VENTILATOR: From which
praying are all masks.’ nobody comes out. ‘His drinking
and gambling led him to the
WUHAN: A place with exotic
ventilator of debt.’
food. Waiter: ‘Would you like to
start with the bat soup?’ Guest: WET MARKET: It doesn’t sell
‘No, I will straight go for the blankets or dreams. It’s a place
pangolin please.’ where calamity originates.
‘When Krishnamurthy uncle
SANITISER: Very pious,
offered to re-pot the plants in
preachy. Teenager caught tip-
the garden, we knew it will turn
toing back home at 3 am: ‘Oh,
into a wet market.’
mom, don’t be a sanitizer.’
HAZMAT SUIT: A saviour, a
FLATTEN THE CURVE: A size-
protector. As the tiger was about
zero supermodel. A middle-
to pounce on the deer, a giraffe
aged person furiously working
appeared on the scene like a
the treadmill. A car mechanic
knight in a shining hazmat.
removing a dent.
I L LU S T R AT I O N S BY S A A H I L B H AT I A

Future of Flexible Workspaces:
With Adversity comes opportunity
T
he largely unknown nature of the
corona virus has caused much
speculation and uncertainty
along all industrial avenues. Amidst the
chaos, companies face significant
challenge as they attempt to prepare
the workplace of the future. While the
times are as worrisome as they could
be, business leaders have a unique
opportunity to shape how employees
do the work in the future without
compromising on their safety as flexible Ankit Jain,
workspace providers formulate new Co-founder
techniques to offer a more conducive and adaptive ecosystem to
cope with disruptive elements.
Sensitivity towards surfaces

The agile workspace providers such as Skootr are working towards
identifying and developing a touch-less system in areas of high
activity and interaction such as reception, meeting rooms, cafe-
teria, and lobby. When it comes to aesthetics, designers are
looking at alternatives to source such fabric & surface materials
for the interiors which can be treated with cleanable solutions,
without ruining its integrity, to avoid the possibility of any
pathological contamination.
Well-sanitized common areas

Regular cleaning and sterilizing of common areas, improved footfall
management equipped with screening protocols along with the
Inclination towards wellness-oriented designs prerequisite of isolation zones within offices will become an essen-
Occupiers will place a stronger emphasis on meeting interna- tial part of every workspace. Asset managers of properties that in-
tional standards of building specifications as they strengthen clude mutually shared services such as cafes, retail and agile spaces
their commitment to employee health and wellness. Grade A will need to improve their existing hygiene policies to safeguard
properties with sustainability, safety and wellness features, par- tenants and employees from any health-related risks in future.
ticularly those related to indoor air quality, ventilation systems, Throughout all economic and social avenues, including the
water drainage systems and other indoor environmental features, real estate sector, factors such as reduced demand and delayed
will draw greater claim in the future. business decisions are creating significant impediments to busi-
ness operations. However, there emanates an encouraging
De-densification of workspaces glimmer of hope that what appears to be an enormous hurdle to
The new pivotal point in the segment of workspace design is so- businesses is in fact an opportunity to grow, learn and evolve. At
cial distancing. Industry standards are likely to improve wherein Skootr, we are ever committed to business excellence and ready
the unit space acquired by individuals may go up considerably. to take up these challenges head-on with a positive resolution.
Hence, the workspace designs will embody comfortable density And, with this dedication and perseverance, we see the office
of people to maintain appropriate distance and cleanliness. sector will recover ultimately.
By Ankit Jain, Co-founder & Director- Skootr

BOOK REVIEW
Two Hands For A

Tightrope Act
Some of Kambar’s primary concerns are reflected in these plays that use
classical, folk and modern techniques: the forging of an identity pared of its
technical appendages, and the need to fight insular religiosity
K. Satchidanandan WHILE RISHY- the other hand, he is profoundly conscious of the moral and
political dilemmas of our time and uses chosen moments from
ASHRINGA IS
C
history, chosen forms from folk theatre and chosen myths and
HANDRASEKHAR ABOUT SIN AND fables to fight the negative aspects of colonialism, globalisation
Kambar is arguably the EXPIATION, and the divisive politics of hatred flaunted by a new brand of
most formidable and the TRUTH AND communal politics. But he does it in truly artistic and nuanced
most prolific playwright in ways suggesting rather than explaining the issues. Those who
Kannada today, besides being a REBIRTH, IT have read his earlier plays in translation, like Sirisampige,
significant poet and novelist in ALSO CARRIES Mahamaya or Jokumaraswamy , or watched their performances,
the language. He is one of the A CRITIQUE OF must be familiar with the subtle strategies he employs to create a
few writers who have redefined counter-modernist theatre brimming with poetry, humour, irony
modernism in Indian literature OUR COLONIAL and suspense and initiates a conversation among the classical,
by reconnecting it with native, BURDEN WE folk and modern traditions of Indian theatre.
mostly folk, traditions and INHERIT FROM The first play, Rishyashringa, a sequel to Kambar’s long poem,
regional histories so that they Helatina Kela (Listen, I Will Tell You) deals with the questions
give us fresh insights into
URBAN TRAIN- of identity, loss of selfhood, the legitimacy of human existence
contemporary life, not to speak ING. THAT’S and their complex relationship to the survival of earth. The
of providing writers with WHAT BALAG- myth of Rishyashringa that appears in Ramayana, Mahabharata
deeply communicative forms. and the Jataka has different versions. In the most popular ver-
But this does not at all mean
ONDA TRIES TO sion Rishyashringa was born to Rishi Vibhandak and Urvashi,
that Kambar is a revivalist; on GET RID OF. the celestial danseuse, who had been
sent by Indra to seduce the rishi whose
powers would otherwise have eclipsed
Indra’s. But Urvashi leaves once the
son is born and the sage, who now
turns a misogynist, brings up
Rishyashringa in a forest away from
Chandrasekhar the sight of women. When the king-
dom of Anga suffers from a severe
Kambar drought and famine, king Romapada is
TWO PLAYS | advised to bring the chaste young
Translated from Brahmin from the forest, whose arrival
Kannada by would herald rains. Vaishali, a charm-
Krishna Manavalli ing young woman is sent into the
| Penguin woods, who secretly meets the youth,
Randomhouse | awakens his adolescent desire and
leads him to Anga, now blessed with
208 pages |
abundant showers. Rishyashringa,
Rs 299 however, marries another woman,
Shanta, and settles down.
Kambar gives many twists to this
story. Here Rishyashringa is renamed
Balagonda, the Gowda’s son, who has
gone for studies in the city, whose

BOOK REVIEW
return to the parched village ‘Who am I’ is related at the same

would dapple the land with time to the tradition into which
green like a “magic sandal one is born and to the contempo-
breeze”. The village prepares to rary environment where one
accord him a royal welcome. flourishes or fails. As the
But they soon come to learn sutradhar sings: “You forget, you
that Balagonda is not really stumble, and search for some-
born to Gowda, as the real thing that can hold in your
Gowda had been devoured by a words/ You are lost in doubt/ and
demon who had come in the you forget the truth of the body,
form of a tiger and it was his my king!/ Is the touch on the
bones left in a well that had skin, or the skin lost in touch?/
taken the present Gowda’s That awareness of you and me/
form. This new Gowda, who is a Flares up like spark from the flint
demon, tells people Balagonda’s stones.” And the Earthwoman
return is not going to bring any sings: “Come, drape me like the
rain. People run away from cloth next to your skin…I shed my
Balagonda. The old man of the shyness, my shame and my hon-
village tells the real story of his our/ And became fully naked
origin to Balagonda who gets rid then./ I remember that now, I
of his old karma by throwing his make my body a temple/ I dig into my stomach to hide your
bundle into that very well where
KAMBAR secret there!” The play connects the concept of identity with
his real father’s remains lay. EMPLOYS SUB- the other, with nature and with the ability to love and fertilise
While the play is about sin TLE STRATEGIES the earth. It also reminds us of Basava’s vachana that the body
and expiation, truth and TO CREATE A itself is the temple and labour, heaven.
rebirth, it also carries an Mahmoud Gawan is completely different in conception
oblique critique of our colonial COUNTER-MOD- though this too uses ancient techniques. The old man who nar-
burden that we inherit from ERNIST THEATRE rates the story acts like the chorus in a classical play. He at
our urban training; it is the bur- BRIMMING times also becomes characters in his tale, like in the classical
den of his fake identity, a crea- Koodiyattam play where the actor transforms himself into the
tion of his schooling in the city,
WITH POETRY, people and even objects he describes--a mode of acting called
that Balagonda gets rid of to HUMOUR, pakarannattam or transformative acting. The old man narrates
regain his real selfhood. The IRONY, the story of Mahmoud Gawan to a group of college students on a
writer has often suggested, visit to Bidar that was the seat of a madrasa once famous
through his poems, novels and
SUSPENSE AND throughout the world, built by Mahmoud Gawan, originally
plays that we need to decolo- STARTS AN from Iran, when he was the diwan of the place. He was a rare
nise ourselves so that we regain EXCHANGE combination of a poet, scholar, philosopher, scientist and strat-
our real identity, which has ele- AMONG OUR egist. On meeting Khwaja Kirmani, he was told about Bande
ments of the pre-colonial, but is Nawaz, the Sufi saint whose shrine in India he was eager to visit.
not entirely constituted by it. It CLASSICAL, He left his wife and children in Iran and proceeded to India
is wise to recall that in one ver- FOLK AND with some horses, most of which he sold but for a pair.
sion of the Rishyashringa story, MODERN In Gulbarga he was surprised to hear the strange tale of
it is because Rishyashringa left Shivalinga Swamy exchanging his saffron clothes with Bande
the country that the country
TRADITIONS. Nawaz’s green ones, in a show of Hindu-Muslim solidarity. The
suffers from drought. Past can day came to be celebrated annually as a cloth-swapping festival
be a burden, but without it we with the shouts of Din Hari Hara—a sign of syncretism.
have no identity. Yet at times Alauddin Bahamani, the sultan of Bidar, was ill at that time and
the past comes back as a demon his daughter-in-law, Begum Nargis, was asked to take over the
in human form, like in contem- reins as his death might lead to a civil war between the foreign-
porary India, leaving us to won- ers and the Deccanis in his court, as the Sultan’s son, Humayun,
der whether this is our real was ill-tempered and unfit to rule. Kirmani had already
past, as the past for the revival- informed the court of Gawan’s visit and he was warmly received
ist is a constructed, exclusivist by the Begum, who happily made him the Diwan of Bidar and
and insular tradition, a source requested him to put an end to the troubles in the country,
of hollow pride in all that is making Prince Humayun the titular ruler.
negative and devoid of all that This elevation of a foreigner to the highest official position
is positive and progressive. angered aspiring native officers who plotted to get him killed
Balagonda’s existential along with the prince, by conspiring with the king of Telengana,
dilemma is not without politi- a sworn enemy of the Sultan. The Turks in the court flattered
cal implications: the question Gawan and had him sent to the battlefield along with Humayun.
BOOK REVIEW
The defeated Jalal Khan, the

king of Telengana, pretended
that he wanted to buy peace
and invited Gawan for talks,
where his messengers brought
him a gift with a dagger hidden
beneath it. The wise Diwan had
foreseen this possibility and the
plan was foiled in time. The
Turks at home, in league with
the Nizam, had spread the
rumour that Humayun had
been killed in battle, forcing the
prince to return, as his throne
had been usurped by his drunk-
ard brother Ahmed Shah. They
also create a situation of tur-
moil at home and eventually
murder Humayun. But Gawan
becomes immensely popular
with the conquest of Goa using
the gunpowder he had ordered
from Iran, the fair treatment of
the poor, rejection of caste Interrogated about the tax exemptions he had granted, he says
privileges, exemptions of tax it was only an extension given owing to the famine and drought.
to famine-hit areas and the Then, god Vitthala himself appears as Mahar Vitthala and pays
cause of religious amity he all the dues, saying they had good crops this year, though every-
espoused with passion. one realises it was Vitthala himself only when the regional head
Mahmoud Gawan’s growing appears later and requests Gawan to extend the exemption as
fame makes his enemies more the drought was even worse that year. Neeli also tells the Sultan
jealous; they use Neeli, a court about the plot hatched by the Nizam and the Turks and how she
assistant and a strong wrestler, was blackmailed into being an instrument of treachery. But the
to trap him. They blackmail Sultan would hear nothing of this, for his ears had been poi-
her, saying that she had been soned by Gawan’s foes and he himself was jealous of Gawan’s
found near the body of the dead fame. He sentences Mahmoud Gawan to death. Before being
prince and could be charged executed by the Sultan, he tells a distraught Neeli: “When poli-
with murder, while promising tics turns foul, it is our duty to protest”, which sums up the
to exonerate her provided she IN MAHMOUD play’s central message. Gawan salutes people like Shivalinga
steals a sealed paper from GAWAN, THE and Bande Nawaz who stood for religious amity and goes fur-
Gawan’s office so that they ther to comment on times of misfortune like the one that has
prepare an order clearing her.
POET-PHILOS- befallen India among many other countries at present: “In
Instead, they forge a letter OPHER AT THE times like these, everything is topsy-turvy! Nature revolts. Even
using that official paper availa- TIME OF HIS seasons race helter-skelter like scared cattle. Cause and effect
ble only to the Diwan DEATH SALUTES lose connection. Therefore now man’s fate must be decided only
addressed to the neighbouring by ruthless politics”. Gawan dies in the Sultan’s hands with the
Odra King, promising to share SHIVALINGA cry, ‘Din Hari Hara’. He reveals it was Allah who had appeared
power with him if he helped AND BANDE as Vitthala to pay the deferred taxes and declares that what he
him overthrow the present NAWAZ WHO did would never go in vain as the politics of unity and moral
Bahamani Sultan Ahmed Shah wisdom would ultimately triumph over the divisive politics of
who is a callous drunkard. The STOOD FOR manipulative hatred. God from Heaven echoes his words. The
conspirators then spread the RELIGIOUS Bahmani dynasty ends as politics gets delinked from ethics and
canard across the land. AMITY AND religious harmony gives way to the politics of othering.
Gawan is called for a trial by It is hard to overemphasise the relevance of the play in India
Ahmed Khan. Many charges are
PREDICTS THE today where the insular politics of an exclusivist majoritarian
raised against him. Asked about VICTORY OF nationalism has won a disgraceful, if transient, victory. I should
the expenses of the madrasa MORAL WISDOM add here that Krishna Manavalli has found the apt idiom to
run by him, Gawan reveals the OVER THE translate Kambar’s plays into a language with an ethos and a
truth that he was spending all syntax radically different from those of Kannada. O
his salary on running it and DIVISIVE POLI- (K. Satchidanandan is a distinguished poet and critic who
supporting poor students. TICS OF HATRED. writes in Malayalam and English)
50 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

Review / ART AND CULTURE
‘Web
series
challenges
you to
try new
things’
Actor Jaideep Ahlawat is winning accolades for his entertainment industry for about a decade now. Do
portrayal of a down-and-out cop in the web series you think web series will take it to the next level?
Paatal Lok, a neo-noir crime thriller. The 42-year-old > Absolutely. It is an audio-visual medium that
actor talks to Giridhar Jha about the web series and enables you to tell your story on a huge platform
his journey in Bollywood so far. Excerpts: with a worldwide reach. You can showcase your
work through it and also watch the work of others
What is the USP of Paatal Lok? from across the world. It helps you widen your
> It is one of the finest written shows I have seen horizons when you get to see such work. You get a
in recent times. You get to see a social structure better vision and perspective as an actor and feel
made of different strata of society—Swarg Lok, challenged to try new things. It also allows you to
Dharti Lok and Paatal Lok—where people from show certain content that cannot be shown under
different classes lead their lives in their own way. the present Indian censorship laws. Of course, web
As far as my character is concerned, content is classified in different categories, such
Hathiram is from Dharti Lok. He is torn as 13+, 16+ or 18+ depending on their suitability, but
Raazi
between his personal and profes- this is discretionary.
sional lives. How he lands in such a You have worked in different media, from theatre to
situation and how he fights his battle web series. As an actor, do you have to change for
on both fronts to forge ahead is what different formats?
this show is all about. It is the story > When the camera rolls, it is all the same for an
of every individual actor. How your work is taken to the audience after
Content has been a buzzword in the that varies from one medium to another. The mode
Review / ART AND CULTURE
of work as well the reach of all media are If you look at it, there has been some good
different. You have to play your part as an work. I am happy that I am not in any blind race.
actor at the end of the day, regardless of the I prefer to be selective in my work. I am never
medium. It does not bother me whether my depressed nor do I ever feel suffocated. Ups
work is reaching the audience through cinema, and downs are part of life. One has to try their
TV or a web series. best and march ahead.
Gangs of
With the advent of global OTT platforms, Wasseypur How do you remember your character Shahid
do you foresee a time when they will Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)?
replace cinema? > Films such as Gangs of Wasseypur and Raazi
> Twenty years ago, you had to pay for incom- (2018) are milestones in my career. Whenever I
ing calls on your mobile phone. Who had then look back, I realise I was lucky to be part of such
thought of using smartphones on which you projects. By the grace of God, I got such oppor-
could watch all kinds of audio-visual content? tunities. I hope that I will keep getting one such
In the coming years, OTT platforms will certainly Commando project every year for the rest of my life.
grow bigger, but cinema has its own impact. Will the rise of content-driven movies lead to
Movies that were made at the start of this the end of the star system in Bollywood?
millennium are still considered classics. Even > I don’t think so. The hero keeps changing in
today, films are being made in and outside the every era. Every 10-15 years, society under-
country. Cinema, therefore, cannot be replaced, goes a change. The thinking of a 10-year-old
but OTT platforms have immense scope, espe- kid changes when he turns 20. Such changes
cially in the East, where many people are still can be seen in every aspect of life. People’s
not connected to them. preferences also change with time. Stars, for
There has been a rush lately to make web one, will always be there; only their face will
series, which has raised concerns regarding change. Old stars will make way for new ones.
the quality of content. For example, there were stars like Balraj Sahni
> It has always been like that in every medium. and Dev Anand earlier. Today, we have Shah
It is the responsibility of filmmakers, actors and Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. For actors, more
writers, who have the freedom to do the kind of options have come up due to the advent of
work they want to do irrespective of whether it new platforms.
is good or not. If I feel I have to do a certain kind What are your forthcoming projects?
of work, I would like to do it. > I had completed some work just before the
Are you happy with the way your career has Baaghi 3 lockdown. I cannot say at the moment when
evolved so far? those will be released. Baaghi 3 was released
> It is not that I am happy or unhappy, thinking only two weeks before the lockdown and was
how it could have been better. And who will doing well. Right now, I am reading scripts to
decide how it could have been any different? make the most of my time at home. O
able to perform as they earlier platforms. Novel viruses call for

did. The ‘stage’ is no longer novel solutions, so we decided
the wood-panelled auditorium to come together. We will
with synchronised lighting. The organise sessions on topics
new stage is a screen in your ranging from fitness to mental
hand—your phone, laptop etc. health and networking. These
We are trying to figure out how will help people get the right become a part of stayIN aLIVE
to do a play on Zoom, get peo- mentorship and learn how to and entertain audiences. We
ple to donate using Facebook fund their work. We will also also want to collect funds,
or YouTube and be interactive showcase the success stories which can be dispersed
Unlock Art during online sessions. of artistes during this time. through the stayIN aLIVE
We also came up with After that, it will be more like a foundation for the emergency
Roshan Abbas, actor, theatre stayIN aLIVE, an artiste-sup- festival with weekly sessions, needs of artistes. Many coun-
director and TV and radio host: port platform with over 60 depending on artistes’ needs. tries have cultural support
We came up with #Stage- artistes and non-stop 24 hours Our first aim is to make sure systems and we too need one.
Badelga for every artiste not of content across multiple that at least 1,000 artistes —As told to Lachmi Deb Roy
52 O U TLO OK | JUNE 1, 2020

la
dolce
vita
Lady, Do It Alone
As is the fate of works by creative geniuses, Tagore’s
oeuvre has been twisted around for some time—songs
flogged for everything from rock to fusion; his fiction,
some of them modernist gems, whipped mercilessly
for contemporary turns. Now, in a Delhi air thick with
rock n’ roll rebellion and angst, the immortal Ekla Cholo
Re appears in a boldly lettered tattoo below Kiara
Advani’s sternum. Cast as a band member in Guilty, the
gorgeous, prominent forehead hides under a wave of
hair, as the heavily lined kohl doth detract from those
eyes. Though millions did answer his call, the song was
a favourite of Gandhiji. Will it work for Nanki?
Yeah, Go For Red

Oh, the pleasures of carrom! On verandahs in the
hot afternoons of summer holidays; a board or two
at dusk as mud forms a patina on football boots;
shut up in ‘clubhouses’ in monsoon evenings, or the
hypnotic rattle of ‘striker’ and ‘coins’ cutting through
winter nights, as a single bulb over the board keeps
vigil. And the roar of voices, as points creep up…. Anil
Kapoor, of a certain vintage, remembers all this. So,
as the hordes distractedly bingewatch OTT series,
he sets up a board and sets about beating the com-
bined force of wife Sunita and daughter Rhea.
la
dolce
vita
A Trough For Nawaz

Wasn’t Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s memoir (An Ordinary Life)
weighed down and buoyed by langorous romances, hot,
fleeting flings and the pain of heartbreak? To be sure,
we thought, a gust of rain-laden air amidst the aridity of
primped-up hagiographies. Not just women, the book was
remarkable in its candour about Nawaz’s various short-
comings—real, imagined, alleged. All this is now sharp-
ened to a point: the news that his wife Aalia has filed for
divorce. “Problems for the last 10 years” (out of 11), she
said, and explained how the lockdown gave her clarity. At
home in Budhana, UP, Nawaz will have a sombre Eid.
Where
She Is
From
Sushmita Sen was the one
star who eagerly got on to
digital media for direct commun-
ions with her fans: all about herself, her
projects, her daughter, workout regimen,
a crocodile of boyfriends…. For an actress
bare there as a top draw, these (and a polished,
articulate persona, one hastily adds) enabled her to hold
on to a steady fandom. Add to her revelations the fact that she
suffered from Addison’s Disease, an auto-immune disorder
that for four years from 2014 ate into her vitals. Along-
side usual treatment, Sushmita self-medicated
with an intense programme of meditation, till
wellness broke through her dark horizon.
54 O U TLO O K | JUNE 1, 2020

COVID-19 WARD
Shikha Malhotra
The actor-turned-
nurse has been
working at a COVID-19
ward in Mumbai since
March 27
From The Screen To The Ward

There is a purpose, as they say, for
everything in life. When the prime
minister announced a lockdown from
March 25 onwards, I resolved to con-
tribute to the fight against the global
pandemic. I had obtained a nursing
officer’s degree from Vardhman Maha-
vir Medical College, Safdarjung Hospi-
tal, Delhi, before I joined the film
industry to pursue my love for acting.
Only a month before the lockdown
began, my first film as a lead actress,
Kaanchli, had been released. I had ear-
lier done small roles in movies like Shah
Rukh Khan’s Fan (2016) and Taapsee
Pannu’s Running Shaadi (2017). I
thought my career in cinema was on the
right track after its release because I
was receiving accolades for my perfor-
mance. I, therefore, had no intention to
join a hospital as a nurse. But the coro-
navirus crisis made me realise that God
had made me get a nursing degree
because of this moment.
During the Janata Curfew (March 22),
I made a video to create awareness
about the need for social distancing. At and also my profile as an actress on Wikipedia. She was surprised to know
the PM’s bidding, I clanged a thali to that a film actor wanted to work as a nurse without any remuneration at a
express solidarity with doctors and time when many people were leaving their jobs because of the highly
other medical personnel at the fore- contagious virus. She also cautioned me about other risks, but I was
front of the war against the virus. I undeterred. I told her that my life had never been routine. Seeing my
knew that it would not be an easy battle resolve, the MS allowed me to work and said she would have hugged me had
and all the hospitals treating COVID-19 it not been for social distancing.
patients might be short of trained
medical personnel, so I rushed to Hindu Miraculous Recovery
Hriday Samrat Balasahab Thackeray I was a bright kid, both in studies and extra-curricular activities. By the
Hospital at Jogeshwari in Mumbai with time I reached Class VIII, I had won awards in different fields like drama,
my degree to offer my services as a painting, poetry etc. Then something unexpected happened—one morn-
nurse. It was one of the two hospitals ing I woke up to find myself totally paralysed. I could see and hear, but
which had opened an isolation ward to was not able to move any part of my body. My parents were devastated,
treat COVID-19 patients at that time. but they did not give up hope. Thankfully, my mother, who was a nurse,
The hospital staff, however, told me took care of me along with my father. Together, they made it their life’s
that there was no vacancy for a nurse mission to help me recover. I would always hear them telling me not to
and advised me to leave a job applica- give up hope. Thanks to their efforts and perseverance, I started moving
tion. When I told them I was not again after three years. I was 15 years by then and decided to appear in
looking for a job and just wanted to board examinations through the open school system.
work as a nurse to serve COVID-19 After passing Class XII, I told my parents that I would like to become a
patients, they let me meet their medi- nurse to serve humanity as my mother did. I went on to pass the nursing
cal superintendent (MS). entrance examination. However, when I returned home after four-and-
The MS checked my nursing degree a-half years with a nursing officer’s degree, I told my parents that I
COVID-19 WARD
wanted to pursue my dreams in the field

of art and culture before I joined any
hospital. With their support and bless-
ings, I came to Mumbai in 2014 and
began doing musical shows and films
until I got a big break in the wom-
en-centric Kaanchli.
Threats And Blessings

More than 50 days have elapsed since
I began working at the hospital on
March 27. I will continue to do so till
the battle against coronavirus is won.
The doctors and the nurses working
there get a break, but I have declined
to take any so far. The hospital has two afraid and lonely as they are not allowed to meet their family
separate wards for COVID-19 patients: members. I try to counsel them, telling them that we too have been
one for serious patients and another separated from our families. Inside the ward, we have to be covered in
for asymptomatic patients. Despite heavy personal protection kits for eight to 10 hours, during which we
the fear of infection, I chose to work in cannot even eat or drink anything. We often feel dehydrated and
the ward for serious patients. giddy, but the motivation to look after patients keeps us going. Some
Most in this ward are invariably of my colleagues caution me against going close to infected patients,
but I do so with adequate protection.
I have had experiences here that I will never forget. When I joined the
hospital, a seven-month-old child had tested positive. His mother had
been admitted to another hospital while his father and grandfather had
been in quarantine since their return from Dubai. I nursed him for 26
days and developed a close bond with him. My joy knew no bounds when
he was finally cured and discharged.
There was another patient, a partially paralysed octogenarian who
expressed a wish to go back home every day. He would refuse to take
medicines, asking us to help him meet his daughter. I made him talk to
his daughter and reassured him that he would see her soon. But when I
reached his ward the next day, I found his bed vacant. He had passed away
the previous night. That was my first shock. I cried inconsolably, telling
my father how I had failed to keep the promise that I had made to him.
There was a young woman who had a four-year-old son. She also waited
to be cured to meet her son, but did not survive.
A 55-year-old patient on a ventilator wanted to see his family members,
but nobody was allowed to visit him. I got in touch with his daughter on
the phone. She requested me to put a picture of her dad on my social
media account so they could see him. I happily did that, only to realise
the next day that I had posted his last photograph. Thankfully, he tested
negative in his final test and his body was handed over to his daughter.
But she had nobody else to help her cremate him. I accompanied her to
the cremation ground and stayed there all night long for his last rites.
I have been doing all of this as part of my duty, just like a soldier
who persists on the battlefront despite the constant threat of bullets.
This jazba (drive) has kept me going so far. I have realised that there
cannot be any price for my nursing degree—people’s blessings are my
only remuneration. O -As told to Giridhar Jha
56 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

Outlook 01june 2020 Nippon

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Outlook 01june 2020 Nippon

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Outlook 01june 2020 Nippon

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Stay safe at home.

We have strengthened our online platforms

Click to download our mobile apps:

For any further queries, contact us at [email protected]

www.outlookindia.com June 1, 2020

September 27, 2019 #50

POINT AND SHARE

SUBSCRIBER COPY NOT FOR RESALE www.outlookhindi.com

o u tlo okmone y.c om

Decoding the secrets of

Now, open Outlook magazine on Millennial Travel WORKPLACES MUMBAI: 022-50990990

your smartphone instantly.

annual listing of top workplaces for women —see page 41

BANGALORE: 080-4 3715021/9 ; Fax: 080-45236105

Point your phone’s scanner on the

THE GREAT DEBATE SEEING

code and align it in the frame.

Fake news got more worrisome.

STEVE GUERDAT n RAGHU RAI n KENILWORTH n ISRAEL

You will be guided instantly to our

KOLKATA: 033-46004506; Fax: 033-46004506

Day tRaDIng 8 904150 800027 09

8 904150 800003 09 STEVE GUERDAT n RAGHU RAI n KENILWORTH n ISRAEL

DARK TOURISM कािूि वक्त की मांग

THE GREAT DEBATE पुडलस यातिा के डवरुद्ध

This is useful to share our stories on OFFICE TIMINGS

the frauds menace

enacts strict laws to curb

SUBSCRIBER COPY NOT FOR RESALE www.outlookhindi.com

SubScriber copy not for reSale Sep tember 2019, `50

â¿ ·¤æð â×çÂüÌ â×æ¿æÚU Âç˜æ·¤æ

TRAVE vw ¥»SÌ w®v~, ×êËØ 25

2 O U TLO O K | JUNE 1, 2020

takers. Thus, globalisation was

FROM THE Daak Room

Dear Aunt and Family:-

I have thought of you many times but to day [sic] is the

discharging blanks to come, as each must fill out a blank

see each other at school, he comes down in the afternoon

Viral Gains of Pakistan and would like to

GOA sunshine. Migrant labourers

With IN CONVERSATION WITH

24 May, Sunday, 11.00 am.

The ICMR might revise

8 O U TLO OK | JUNE 1, 2020

Delimitation Challenge seats for former PoK refugees and

Veteran Bengali Rehana Fathima TV actor Actor-comedian Tainted American

10 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

12 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

Writer, director and

Pakistani politician Shaukat Yousafzai live-

14 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

adjusting to the new realities of with finance minister Nirmala

ticipants in each. It is fascinating to left some participants in tears. No such

16 O U TLOOK | JUN E 1, 2020

Size matters. Or does it? It dep­ earlier reliefs of nearly

ends on which side of the fence you First Tranche

“I haven’t heard anyone say

20 O U TLOOK | JUNE 1, 2020

Size matters. Or does it? It dep earlier reliefs of nearly