Being Delulu

My two younger children (twins, a girl and a boy) were born in 1999. I used to call them dot.com kids because that was the period of the dot.com bubble. Being digital natives, they started handling computer keyboards before touching a pen. Now kids of that vintage are called the Generation Z. I had to rejig a lot of my ideas and acceptances to be in line with the changing mores of that generation. So, sleepovers were all too frequent; being glued to mobile phones was normal; best gifts one could give them ranged from game consoles to ipods, and so on. 

Much of the time, our house has been full of their friends, other gen Z kids. Slowly, I realised that they speak in tongues. It’s English but nothing like what we know as the English language. When I first heard my son’s friend say, “I’m bouncing,” I was aghast. Talking of weird behaviour of some anatomical parts? Or about some game? Or was it acrobatics on the trampoline? Later I learnt that he meant he was leaving. Then there were the one-letter words, acronyms and shortened phrases. That’s a big W meant that’s a big win. L meant Loss. IRL meant In Real Life. Delulu meant Delusional or ungrounded in reality. 

I thought I knew the term ‘drip.’ For us, it meant a weak, ineffectual person. Now, it’s almost the reverse – it actually means stylish look. For us, ‘thirsty’ meant grabbing a glass of water. Now it describes a person desperate for attention or validation. ‘Ate’ meant filled one’s belly, now it means doing something with style or impressively. 

Mercifully, some words haven’t changed much. ‘Vibe’ still means overall mood or atmosphere. ‘Low-key’ means understated. We also used ‘slay’ to mean perform exceedingly well. Something ‘hit different,’ when it had a unique and powerful impact. ‘Cringe’ was something embarrassing or awkward. It remains so. 

From time to time, I’m dropping some of the new lingo on my kids’ unsuspecting friends, to the acute ‘cringe’ of my kids. I no longer dress Low-key; I’ve graduated to High-key, with floral prints dominating my wardrobe. My socks are lurid shades of red, electric blue, bottle green and so on. Ditto, my T-shirts; I hardly wear shirts any more, even when I’m teaching a class because quite a few of my students are Gen Z. I wonder if I ‘slay’ them with my ‘drip’ look. Probably I’m being perpetually ‘thirsty,’ (requiring validation all the time). 

Sometime back, I wanted to simp glow-up but IRL, that kinda thing becomes a big L if you can’t vibe with your age. It can look sus to fam. So, while you think you’re lit or slaying with your drip, no fam member thinks you’re snatched. They think you’re being cheugy and delulu. Positively cray. Periodt. 

The above passage, roughly translated to our (old) generation lingo: 

Sometime back, I wanted simply (simp) a positive transformation (glow-up) but in real life (IRL), that kind of thing becomes a big loss (L) if you can’t be in sync with the overall mood (vibe) of your age. It can look suspicious (sus) to family (fam). So, while you think you’re exciting or amazing (lit) or doing exceptionally well (slaying) with your stylish clothes and fashion accessories (drip), no family member thinks  you’re looking amazing (snatched). They think you’re being outdated and uncool (cheugy) and delusional (delulu). Positively crazy (cray). Period, emphasis added (Periodt)! 

No cap (to tell the truth), it’ll feel salty (bitter). 

There is an upside to it also. Heaven forbid, if I ever go to a night club and make a jackass of myself, the bouncer won’t have to do anything. I’ll myself bounce. Fast. Because I know the lingo. 🕺🏻🕺🏻

Aur janab kya chal raha hai?

 

Uff, so much spin by India, Pakistan, US, Prez Trump, PM Modi, PM Sharif, Defence Ministers Rajnath Singh and Khawaza Asif, international media, national media (both Godi and less-Godi – there’s no non-Godi media left!), Defence community and so on, the head is positively spinning now. But, through the fog, some things are evident. 

We thought, with our far superior air power, we’d just be all over Pakistan and they’d roll over and die. That didn’t happen. Both the sides had war-gamed long and hard. However, there were two deficits in the Indian war-gaming. We didn’t realise how long and how well Pakistan had been preparing for it. When the Pahalgam massacre happened, I thought Munir was being foolish – he should’ve known better after the Balakot strike. However, it seems, Pahalgam was not just trigger happiness on his part. He initiated it after working out the subsequent stages. 

What was expected to be a surgical airstrike without crossing our airspace turned into a large-scale dogfight with a huge number of aircrafts involved. It is not possible to hide this because the moment an aircraft is airborne, it can be tracked by the radars and satellite and the real-time data is preserved for a while. I do believe the estimate by various sources of around 125 aircrafts of both sides involved in the stand-off. Scrambling so many aircrafts so quickly does indicate serious advance preparation by Pakistan. 

Where the script went wrong for India is that we probably didn’t have enough or full information about the technological advancements Pakistan had managed in terms of acquiring Chinese 4.5 generation jets (J-10C) and PL-15 air-to-air missiles. The world had underestimated the effectiveness of these platforms and weapons.

While India gave clear-cut denials for all the other claims by Pakistan, on the question of downing of Rafale/s, it said, “There’s no evidence …” Hello, the Indian government doesn’t need evidence to know whether any of its own aircrafts was downed. It would’ve been inconvenient to admit, hence this answer. Plus, in the immediate aftermath, the Chengdu Corp (manufacturers of J-10C) stocks soared by 60 % while Dassault (manufacturer of Rafale) stocks climbed down by 7 % [both have market-corrected now]. It’s safe to assume that India lost aircrafts including Rafale/s. There’ve been no specific claims regarding Pakistan having lost any aircraft. In the air skirmish, it’s about honours even, with a slight tilt in favour of Pakistan. 

What worked better for India was the Air Defence system. While our S-400 withstood most of Pakistan’s sallies, India could breach the Pakistan defence system HQ-9/P and hit the nine intended targets on the first day and several airbases/ airports subsequently. Pakistan also managed to get through our system and hit a few things in the later stages of the conflict, but far less compared to India’s strikes. 

Looks like, while Pakistan was intimidated by the perceived appetite of India to prolong the tit-for-tat, India was also surprised by the scale and perseverance of the Pakistan retaliation. In the end, both sides were desperate for an out. 

This is just background. What I’m trying to get at is that India’s target/s were not achieved. The target was not hitting nine known ivy-league terror universities. The target was to overwhelm Pakistan and intimidate so that it considers terrorism as an expensive no-win proposition. That hasn’t happened. If anything, Munir, chasing institutional credibility and support has managed it and is pumped up. He must also be feeling how easy it is to organise a mini-war and benefit quickly before USA and others call time in short order. It’s his cost-benefit calculus that alone counts in Pakistan's policy so he’ll organise another terror attack whenever it’s convenient or desirable for him. 

Regardless of the spin, the people at the helm know exactly what the situation is. The two sides haven’t reached a Nash Equilibrium point where any (mis)adventure will assure mutual self-destruction. Further terrorist incidents are round the corner. So what should we do? 

First and foremost, we must go all out to build a fool-proof air defence system, an impenetrable "iron dome." It should be so robust like Israel’s that not a single missile should be able to barge through. 

Next, and simultaneously, we must shop around for 5^th generation aircrafts which will be the best in the world and have them in bulk. Whatever enhancements are required for the existing Rafales must be undertaken urgently. 

Simultaneously, this defensive shield and offensive capabilities must extend to the intelligence domain too. We should have such a robust system that terrorists can’t sneak through or operate. In case a terrorist attack does materialise, we should be able to detect and destroy the perpetrators within no time. Obviously, we’ve miles to go in this. Not only that Pahalgam could not be prevented, there were glaring lapses in the security arrangements and till date, we haven’t been able to find out who, what and why. There has not been a single arrest. 

We must develop the Covert Action Capability (CAC) of intelligence, manpower and equipment such that we could match how USA took out Osama Bin Laden without the faintest idea of his harbourers or the Israeli intelligence killing/ injuring thousands of Hezbollah operatives in Syria and Lebanon through simultaneously exploding pagers and walkie-talkies (Operation Grim Beeper, 2024). If we could’ve eliminated Dawood Ibrahim and LeT Chief or organised simultaneous explosions affecting a few Pakistani top generals immediately after Pahalgam, that would’ve been a decisive victory. Plus, we could’ve basked in the deniability like that of Pakistan on Pahalgam. All this is difficult but possible, if the priorities are right. After all, we’ve the money – we are an economic powerhouse; we should make it count. 

In my estimate, we have about a year before the next terrorist attack. We should prepare so well that the response to that one should be decisive. 

Meanwhile, aur janab kya chal raha hai? 

Hindustan aur Pakistan, dono jagah fog (of war) chal raha hai.

Your revdi or mine? Anywhere, anytime

 

The other day, our household help was complaining about how corrupt and unfair the political system and governance system are; how everything was skewed in favour of the rich and against the downtrodden, etc.. When I asked her why then she kept voting for Didi, she said Didi was giving her Lakshmir Bhandar. In fact, the scheme has been so popular that when the feisty MP Mahua Moitra was campaigning in the rural areas of her constituency in the last Parliamentary elections, the first question she used to ask the poor women was whether they were receiving the Lakshmir Bhandar money and used to be greeted by grateful affirmatives. 

I thought this must be a huge amount or some high-value goods. Turned out, it was just Rs. 1,000 per month (Rs. 1,200 for SC/ST) for women not employed by government and certain other bodies or retired from them drawing a pension. Yet, this has been a real game changer for the political fortunes, earning sustained loyalty from millions of womenfolk. This shows how desperately deprived and marginalised a large section of our society is. It led me to think a little about the so-called “revdis.” 

On July 16, 2022, speaking in Kaitheri in Jalaun district after inaugurating the Bundelkhand Expressway, Prime Minister Modi derisively said, “Today in our country, attempts are being made to collect votes by distributing free revdis (sweets). This revdi culture is very dangerous for the development of the country. People of the country, especially the youth, need to be careful of this revdi culture. People of revdi culture will not build expressways, airports or defence corridors for you. People of revdi culture feel that by distributing free revdis to people, they can buy them. Together we need to defeat this thinking. Revdi culture needs to be removed from the country’s politics.” 

Yet, the Prime Minister has now become a zealous champion of endless revdis and the revdis have improved the political fortunes of his party. 

In the last Madhya Pradesh elections, facing huge anti-incumbency, everyone predicted that BJP was down for the count. Even BJP leaders were making rueful statements. Then came the ladli bahna scheme on 28.1.23 and the party romped home with a landslide in the November 2023 elections. Again, the amount was a paltry Rs. 1,000 per month. The elections were fought on the promise of increasing it to Rs. 1,250 initially and Rs. 3,000 eventually. 

In Haryana, the BJP announced Rs 2,100 monthly allowance for women, scooty for girl students, free dialysis for patients and two lakh government jobs. For Maharashtra, as many as 146 freebies were announced by the NDA. It was widely reported that the Maharashtra election dates (due with Haryana elections held on 5.10.24) were deferred so that the beneficiaries of Ladki Bahin Yojana (announced on 28.6.24, launched on 17.8.24) would’ve received two instalments of the money before the elections eventually held on 20.11.24. 

In Delhi, the AAP’s freebies list included raising Mahila Samman Yojana from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100 per month and a Sanjeevani scheme to provide free health care to those above 60 years. The Congress promised Rs 8,500 for skill training of the unemployed, Rs 2,500 as pyaari didi yojana and Rs 25 lakh insurance under Jeevan Raksha Yojana. BJP promised Rs 21,000 for pregnant women, Rs 2,500 per month to women voters, and a Rs 500 subsidy for LPG cylinders in Delhi. 

During the last UP elections, some of the news portals were predicting a rout for Yogi. However, I saw an interview of some rural people where they were saying how they were happy that they were getting ration twice a day, “subah ka Modi se, aur sham ka Yogi se.” I presume, they were referring to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and the state scheme. Then I thought, no, Yogi has a much better chance than the news portals were predicting. 

It is true that the single purpose behind this competitive revdi-politics is grabbing the votes. However, is it such a bad thing? 

As long as these schemes are announced before the Model Code of Conduct kicks in, they don’t fall foul of any law or rules. Plus, there is a problem of what exactly is a revdi or freebie. Free bus ride to women is as much of a freebie as reduction in corporate tax – the latter can indirectly influence vote purchase by adding to the coffers of a political party. Cooking gas subsidy which Amitabh Bachchan took one and a half years to forego is as much of a revdi as free cash transfer without any reciprocity or charge. While reduction in corporate tax might have some positive impact on investment (this is dubious, to say the least), free cash will augment human capital and also increase consumption expenditure, leading to demand side stimulus. Even revival of Old Pension Scheme is a freebie. There is an argument for ‘merit’ goods alone but it’s difficult to know which is not a merit good if the externalities are factored in. 

On the other hand, much of these so-called revdis are actually going to sections of society whose voices are invisible in policy making – women, backwards, marginalized, and so on. This adds to their much needed social protection which is not available to them but for these democratic negotiations of vote-bank politics. 

Estimates indicate that the current state expenditure on freebies ranges between 0.1% and 2.7% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). This is not so bad when we consider that India’s social protection spending is merely 4 % of the GDP compared to Brazil’s 17 % and China’s 7.9 %. Even this small amount of freebies have led to not only some sense of a security net amongst the marginalised, it has resulted in substantive human capital growth. 

A recent report by SBI Research showers praise on the Ladli Bahna scheme, saying it has impacted the behavioural habit of marginalised women in such a way that beneficiaries have increased their spending at merchant outlets by 3.5 times. 

So, is there a problem with revdis? Yes, there is. These revdis are actually government schemes paid for by the taxpayer. Using them for brand promotion of a political leader by putting her/ his photos on ration bags or entitlement certificates is actually illegal and unethical. All promotion of these schemes should be informative only and should be devoid of any photograph of anyone. Also if the election process (e.g., polling date) is manipulated around the revdis, that delegitimizes the democratic exercise. 

My considered opinion is, the general public is interested in only three things: micro benefits, prices and crime/law & order situation. What the governments should do is to encourage revdis but prevent financial profligacy by mandating budget deficits both at the Centre and the states to be below 3 % of the national and state GDPs through legislation. This is one legitimate role that can be given to the President and the Governors for strict enforcement. [Despite all the aspersions on AAP’s freebies, Delhi reported a fiscal surplus (0.4% of GSDP) in 2022-23.] Meanwhile, all this will go haywire if the crime and law and order situation is not robust. So, that’s another argument for earnestly implementing the police reforms as mandated by the Supreme Court order of 2006. 

So net, net? Your revdi or mine? Anywhere, any time. Conditions apply.