IPL SpotFixing: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them

IPL 2013 has been a disaster in terms of credibility. Sreesanth and gang got caught. Now the damage is much deeper for this tournament. Bollywood Guys and Bookies are behind the bar. Even the biggest sharks at BCCI top post level are being suspected and being probed.

Like some great thinker said, Pakistani Terrorism and Indian Corruption can't be cured. So if you can't beat them, join them.

Let's propose some significant changes to the way IPL 2014 will be played, wherein we can legitimate some of these "wrong doings" and "cheating", to have even advantage to all the teams. Also, this will ensure that the spectators don't get any surprise. 100% transparency in spot fixing is my noble aim!

Change Number 1: Designated Bookies

No more surprises. Each IPL team will have the option of picking upto 5 bookies per season. Only two can be based of Pakistan or Dubai. If the location can't be traced, former banned cricketers like Prabhakar, Jadeja, Azaruddin can be consulted for expert opinion on the exact location of the bookies. 

Each bookie will be allowed to handle a maximum of Rs.500 crore betting per game and up to 100 phone numbers. Those numbers must be notified to the crime branch and team owner before the start of each game. And, no team can have more than 2 bookies from the same Bhai's gang. And those with murder charge sheet against them or the history of defaulting on betting payments, will need special permission from the BCCI Chairman to apply for bookie auction, after surrendering all their illegal weapons to the  nearest encounter specialist.

Change Number 2: Approved List and Quantity of Drugs

What happens in the after match parties is anyone's guess now. So IPL 2014 will have regulated list and quantity mentioned per player. Cocaine, Ganja, injectables will be circulated at the time of the auction of players.

It will be the team's responsibility to sensibly distribute the drugs themselves, thereby disallowing spurious elements contact their players in need, at odd times and odd places. And spot fixing handler girls and bookies must not be allowed to meet the players, after they start drug usage for that night.

Change Number 3: Spotfixing Signals

You must have seen in 2013. Sreesanth used a towel. Ankit Chauhan used a different method and so on. No more confusion. Each team will get a sponsored method (with logo or other display options of the sponsor) of spotfixing signal. It will be either a towel, or a big locket, or a wrist wearing device and so on. The umpire will ask the bowler before each over if he needs to make an announcement to the bookie and the world about a fixed over. Why just bowlers, let's also include some spotfixing options for the poor batsmen. This way we will have a fair level playing field across teams.

Note, only 3 overs max per game to be fixed. If the team pays a designated amount, then the signal will be kept a secret only between the players, umpire and the bookies via special signalling methods. This amount will come from the player auction fund's left over.

Change Number 4: Review of spotfixing and 2 challenges allowed.

Since spotfixing can make or break a team into 100s of crores each season, two challenges per game are allowed for the captains. For example, if the bowling side is opting to spotfix the 12th over, after the signal is made, the opposing team's captain can challenge and disallow the fixing for that particular over.

This is to give the opposing team a chance to pick the right situation and batsman to handle the fixed over, to enable their bookies make the best out of the precious opportunity. No partial over fixing allowed though.

Change Number 5: Only 3 lady escorts per team allowed.

Another important change for 2014 IPL would be that every team will get only 3 lady escorts per game. When the escorts heard that Sreesanth's iPhone had nearly 1500 numbers out of which 400 were air hostesses, there was panic in their industry. They want to give opportunity to more escorts,  socialites, handlers, dancers and other lady professions across the metro cities.

So each team has to pick 3 names, with one compulsorily from their home town. These ladies will be given special badges so that they can gain entry into after match parties, special spot fixing rooms and may even be player's rooms, upon special permission from the team management. Any girl found without following the protocol will be ejected from the IPL circuit for 3 full years.All their phone calls will be strictly monitored and recorded.

Change Number 6: You can only fix a player twice in a particular IPL.

With IPL fixing amount becoming so attractive, there has been a special request by the Dubai and Karachi based bookies that they want more options. There is also a tremendous fight among those players who have no international chance anytime in the near future. So accommodate all situations, the proposal is to have a max limit per player from spot fixing perspective.

A given player can opt to get fixed only for 2 matches in a season. This will be decided by a lottery as there are not enough matches to allow everyone to be fixed. Those selected for Indian national team in any format, will be given a lower preference in this list. In the unlikely event that a player declines to get fixed for a match, he can designate via his bookie, the next option. He will get 20% of the fixed amount, for this trading of spot.

These are the major changes. There will also be minor changes like no game to be fixed entirely, all payments in designated 3 currencies only, debarring a player who has fixed but didn't show signal cases, disallowing any fix-specialist player to enter politics for a 3 years period from the year of fixing, among other things. If you have noticed, there is no proposal here on how to make betting easier in various cities of India for a spectator. That is a tricky topic and it will be covered once the fixing rules are accepted by BCCI.

Watch this space for more details when 2014 IPL is closer. For now, let's switch on the TV to see if Srini Mama will lose his job tonight due to yet another Son-In-Law wheeling and dealing problem in India.


Credits: Image 1: newslinemagazine; Image 2: zeenews; Image 3: fakingnews; Image 4: wikipedia; Image 5: dailymail; Image 6: thehindu

Know Why You Are On Social Media

In my view, there are two kinds of social media users.

The first group comprises of those who are enthusiasts enjoying Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others.Let's call them Social Media Enthusiasts.

The second group is a bit more serious one. It consists of Social Media Activists. These are the folks who generate serious content, trends, work towards a common goal (mostly), take on challenges from the opposing ideology etc. In short, the "workers", who have have a fairly passionate goal. In majority of the cases, these 'worker bees' won't be paid, but they still do this activism because it is important to their heart.

No one knows what percentage of Twitter or Facebook users belong to the second category. My best guess is that it could be around 20%. Because the majority of those who use their computers and mobiles, usually do for study, news gathering, communicating or entertainment.

Let's focus on the second group, the Social Media Activists:

I am going to take up an example which is very familiar to me. In India, there's a huge pool of Twitter and Facebook users, who are frustrated with the corruption and lack of growth, due to outdated socialistic policies of a particular dynasty headed party. So, they are indulging in a fairly serious campaign on the social media, to remove the corrupt regime and instill a relatively corruption free, progressive and fast developing India. Without getting into personalities involved here, that sums up what I call, a "Pro-Hindu, Pro-Bharatiya" social media group. They have deep passion in particular for their fellow Hindus, their society at-large and the overall good of their nation.

I am sure most people who are in this group, depicted in the diagram above as green small arrows, know their overall goal. But what's missing here is the cohesion. They miss out the boundary separating their individual heterogeneous behaviour to a team play necessary in the homogeneous format. That creates differences. Sometimes it could be over their focus on Dharma aspects, sometimes over engagement with media houses and sometimes over political movements within their broader ideological umbrella. The list is endless.

So how do we handle differences? It needs some broad set of rules which will guarantee individual enthusiasm in using social media, while the common alignment needed to achieve their collective goal.

Here are some rules that I propose:

1) Do not lose your cool when provoked.
You are here on Twitter or Facebook to have fun. Your time is precious. Your resources used like time and money are precious. Don't waste it by unnecessarily indulging in personal fights or mudslinging. Yes, "eeth ka jawab pathhar se" (Reply with a rock when provoked with a brick) sounds adrenaline pumping, but if you do it too often, it's a vicious cycle drowning sane voices.

There are people specifically on the social media to provoke you. They have their own agenda. Don't fall into their trap.

2) Do not abuse:
No matter how grave the issue is, no matter how justified you think that you need to swear, go very easy on hurling abuses. Best thing is to never abuse anyone's family, caste, religion, language, sex etc. But if you lose cool occasionally, try to correct your path. Apologize openly if necessary. There's no ego involved here as abuse is never justified. Abuse is always relative as for one person even calling 'idiot' might be an abuse. So you position your own comfort level, but always watch for reactions. You can fine tune the line between criticism and abuse.

3) Do not try to control other like minded people - Try to convince.
This is one side effect of considering someone as your "friend" on social media. You might have interacted online or offline or both with that person. You have great trust on that person. Suddenly, when the person does something, like raising a viewpoint that is totally uncomfortable for you, try to convince them. Do not try to force your way, as you will eventually lose. If the person says he likes meat and if you are a strong advocate of vegetarianism, try to convince or compromise. You are no-one to force that person to not speak about meat recipes. If the person is invited as a guest to a particular corporate house, which you strongly disapprove, explain why he/she must not attend, rather than trying to bulldoze.

4) Do not try any boycott.
Another big mistake by emotional folks. There are group efforts to boycott some nations, some corporations, some papers, some ideology or some public figures. It could even be an angry campaign against your former online "friend"! Go back and look at your common goal in the picture above. By advocating boycott, you will most likely mobilize only a small group within that big heterogeneous team.  It's not easy and most likely you will fail. If you have enough impact on the groups, eventually the boycott may happen in other ways, but it takes a sustained campaign and very tough to implement. If you just can't take a person, just disengage, instead of trying for a mass boycott. Know your limits.


5) Do not let your differences break the group:
Know your opponents and your overall goals. If you want to reform your society, bring in new & capable leaders, end the vicious cycle of failures, you need to work really hard as a team. There would be a very concentrated fight back from your opponents, who know why you are here. Your online campaign is making them uncomfortable. They want all tricks in the book to break your team or group. Hence, do NOT let them break up your precious network. Your opponents are much bigger, hugely funded and powerful mainstream entities. Co-opt when necessary and expose where necessary.

Know where you should agree to disagree. Individual freedom and the collective group goal are two things which needs to be addressed. If you develop enough closeness with your online friend(s), you would have shared phone numbers by now. So talk things through offline. Have in-person meetings in your cities when required to re-energize the collective goal. The more cracks that are visible in your group to your opponent, the more they will exploit those fault lines. "Divide and Rule" is something that we are all familiar with, and your cracks are invitation for your opponents to use the same policy yet again. Worse, the casual social media enthusiasts will get either confused or get swayed away from you, if they see serious infighting among yourselves.

At the end, your social network activism will fail if you are divided and fighting among yourselves. And that's exactly what those in the position of power and those who want to censor or shut freedom of expression, want. Don't fall into their hands so easily. Social media is a great equalizer and even a bigger game changer. Treasure its power and achieve your collective goal!


{Credit: Parts of the illustrative picture was picked from socialpsychology.org, top10hitz.com and dil-ke-colour-pencil-se.blogspot}

Dear Karnataka BJP Campaigner, Read This First...

It's exactly 1 month from now, for the voting morning in Karnataka.

So many of you are supporting BJP and many of you are thinking it is a gone case for BJP in 2013. This letter is for those who support BJP, but are low on morale on how to tackle so much negative publicity about BJP's internal bickering since 2008. Even if you have written off BJP from 2013 polls, read this, so that you have an idea of what really was the case when it comes to positive development in Karnataka. This letter is not a manifesto or 200 page PDF, but just gives you enough information to research further. But more importantly, will help you realize that BJP government in Karnataka between 2008 and 2013, was not at all bad.. in fact, it was one of the best development period the state has seen in a long time!

If you are a person interested in campaigning or commenting about political events at the state, use these twelve strategies. I am giving them out openly, so that you rivals can also read and slow down a bit on negative publicity :)

Strategy 1: Talk about Public Transport a lot: 

BMTC Main Bus Stand - Bengaluru {Pic: Skyscrapercity}

Easily Karnataka has one of the best, if not THE best bus service today. Amazingly useful & successful tries in public transport. International UITP-ITF award for the best innovation in public transport. The list of awards runs into pages! 10,229 new buses added to fleet, 93 new bus stations with all amenities were constructed. Dozens of crispy clean TTMCs are in place. The number of underpasses and fly overs built for traffic congestion removal are phenomenal. Alternative fuel usage in more than 2000 buses won the Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation award. Mention Bus day's great success which other cities have started copying now. Talk extensively about environmental projects in commercial establishment to reach out to the middle class Eco conscious voter.

Catch: KSRTC and BMTC were always "good" some will say. Show them the balance sheets and how they turned profitable big time during BJP rule.



Strategy 2: Connect with the Computer Literate:

e and m governance successes in Karnataka. {Pic: Medianama}

Talk lots of numbers about the awards and rewards for the e-governance projects. The national e-governance award for introducing Panchatantra software is a starting point. In the knowledge capital of India, Bengaluru, you need to connect with people who understand software. So e and m governance details, that too the unique aspects in India, must he highlighted.

BJP has given great governance, because the citizen guarantee time scheme, "Sakala" has processed more than 1,50,00,000 applications ON time! India's BEST government response guaranteed scheme! Every speech in every district must cover this.

Catch: "What's new here? Many states have it" they might say. Question them to show a Sakala equivalent in any state today, at that level of success.

 Strategy 3: Highlight the Rural Project Successes:

Talk about rural projects, in simple language that people understand in. For instance, campaign in the key North Karnataka districts should focus on the local awards & rewards: Dharwad, Belagavi & Gulbarga districts received the national awards for successful implementation of NREGA Program. Give credit to the center, but also show that implementation matters.

No government in India, in ANY state, had the courage to bring out a separate Agricultural Budget for the farmers since 1950. This commitment of BJP for the farmers' welfare made sure that 'Jai Kisan' was not just a mere slogan. 10s of 1000s of crores of real money in useful projects like organic farming.

Catch: Some old events like Farmer shooting, or floods, or droughts will be brought up. Just compare farmer issues of neighbours, particularly Maharashtra after that state's massive irrigation scam induced drought. 

Strategy 4: Metro, Metro and Metro:

Namma Metro with Vidhana Soudha in background. {Pic: IOSMW}

Highlight the Metro project as a separate topic. Bengaluru's Namma Metro is a success story very different from any urban train project in India. Unlike the Kolkata and Dilli projects, this was very much a state government effort, with less than half of support from the center. Compare Bengaluru with Mumbai & Hyderabad. The Metro train project planned at almost at the same time for all the three cities, but the latter two cities are still "building". That's purely because of Congress' misrule in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Bengaluru is almost ready with the next phases being inaugurated, while the other two cities are no-where closer to the first phase! Here highlight that work speed during BJP governance.

Catch: This had UPA's money. This was SM Krishna's time start etc. etc. But ask them, why Mumbai and Hyderabad failed so badly? Ask them what was Metro's percentage completion in 2008 when BJP came to power in Karnataka?


Strategy 5: Expose Congress and Others:

SR Hiremath exposing Mining Loot by  Congress. {Pic: Bharat NC}

Do not succumb to paid media's targeting of BJP. Talk about the details presented in the Supreme Court and other places, by the famous anti-corruption crusader SR Hiremath. Unlike the biased Santosh Hegde, Hiremath has clearly exposed that SM Krishna of Congress was the grand daddy of illegal mining. He has then declared a battle against the senior Congress leader DK Shivakumar's illegal mining exports. Also, bring in JDS' mining black phase involving HD Kumaraswamy. While Congress and paid media jumped on 'Yeddy-Reddy', they never told the people that Janardhana Reddy confessed to CBI of financing the late Congress CM of Andhra Pradesh, YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Ask openly, what was Congress' relation with Reddy brothers in Andhra Pradesh? What was Brahmani industry all about? Why did YSR share stage with Reddy brothers offering them all assistance in AP? What relations Ballary's brothers have with now jailed Andhra CM's son Jagan Reddy?

Catch: Reddy brothers topic is always the hot topic for Congress. Show them some explosive details from my earlier blog in 2011 -> http://kiranasis.blogspot.in/2011/09/reddy-brothers-and-andhra-pradesh.html



Strategy 6: Don't shy away from talking about Ballary, but show the current clean image of BJP:

Also, for those living in Yeddy-Reddy era. Both Yeddyurappa and Reddy are both non entities in BJP now. Also the so-called 'tainted' Ballary was Sonia Gandhi's first MP seat not so long ago. If Ballary had mine-mafia money, then ask who sponsored her election win there? Were there no mine barons campaigning for Congress?

Catch: Openly admit that BJP made some mistakes. Now look forward to 2013 and show them the current leadership starting with Shettar, Joshi, S Gowda etc. Compare with 3 CM period of Congress in early 1990s.

Strategy 7: It's the Economy, Stupid!

Two massive GIMs during BJP govt. {Pic: Skyscrapercity}

Budget: In 2007-08, the budget receipts in Karnataka were Rs.40762 crores. By 2013-14 the receipts grew to Rs.1,15,983 crores plus Rs.22,310 separate agriculture budget. That's a stellar 239% growth under BJP! When economy grows, everything else is taken care of. Why not highlight this systematically? The development expenditure increased in Karnataka from Rs. 27,009 crores in 2008-09 to Rs 77,383 crores in 2013-14. A whopping 186% increase. What else is more important for the state than development and substantial increase in the economy? Political bickering, however irritating it might be, should take a second seat in highlighting, when economy has such great news to talk about.

Catch: Implementation rate of GIM will be brought up. Show them nominal success rates of other states and the effect of mining ban on certain projects.

Strategy 8: Hit back on Congress' weak points:

Kureel's cartoon summing up "Porn" hypocrisy. {Pic: Indologygoa.WP}

About Congress' attack on BJP for 'porn' in the assembly, which finally got closed as a non-issue. How come BJP does not raise Abhishek Manu Singhvi's nationally talked about 'pants down in court premises' scandal? Why leave out ND 'DNA' Tiwari's Raj Bhavan episodes? Why not tell the voters about what kind of illustrative 'CD' sagas Rajasthan's Maderna has displayed? After all Singhvi & co are still the role models for that party :)


The same way, the so called secular Congress is planning to build a university for Muslims, with public tax money (unconstitutional most likely), that too under a mass murdering fanatic Tipu Sultan's name. Attack that totally communal votebank policy of Congress. And this party calls BJP "communal"? Expose them.

Why middle class is so confused about BJP? Because of the negative publicity. And who were the key players in that negative publicity? A self-proclaimed "Congressman" governor Bharadwaj who was infamous for protecting Bofors thieves, 'Bofors' Quatrocchi's son who lived in Bengaluru, SM Krishna's SIL who allegedly sponsored some rebel resort politics of BJP, the seriously biased Santosh Hegde whose junk mining report got flushed at Karnataka High Court and of course the media which only had an agenda against Yeddyurappa when he was the CM, but not against other ex-CMs. For instance, Congress and the so called 'Paid' media never told you that Jindal group that alleged bribed the ex-BJP CM BS Yeddyurappa, was owned by a famous Congress political family! Why downplay that very important point?

Catch: Don't be defensive trying to deny any BJP's misdoings. They did do mistakes. But contrast with the humungous scams of UPA lead Congress and the role models that exist in Congress, like Ibrahim (whose name was in a Rape FIR), Singhvi (see cartoon above) to name a few.

Strategy 9: Highlight the very good Law and Order:

Under the BJP rule, Karnataka had ZERO major riots. In fact there was not even a single riot that had more than 5 deaths. Compare that to Congress era when the 1991 anti-Tamil riots and the 1994 anti-Urdu riots saw dozens of deaths. Communal harmony and security for all citizen has been a total success under BJP. Did you see any Home Minister of India visiting the distant Asom and other NE states, to invite the panic stuck youth to return back to their state, after that SMS scare was engineered by malicious elements?

Talk about respect for the nation. BJP government gave respect to the soldiers of India, via the Martyrs Memorial. Gave 50% property tax relief to soldiers irrespective of state. These are the desh bhakti topics that need highlighting.

Catch: People will talk of Mangaluru incidents or Church attacks. Show them the incidents from SM Krishna's time. Show them how BJP acted swiftly here.

Strategy 10: Tell the people the mistakes of prior governments:

Congress & JDS simply blamed BJP for their earlier governments' faults. For instance the garbage crisis of 2012 was mainly  because Congress and JDS didn't follow Supreme Court deadlines during their rule. As a result, the minimum 2 KM 'no activity' near garbage dump got reduced to 0.5 KM, which then encouraged real estate mafia to put pressure against garbage dumps around the city. Also, when BBMP was expanded by absorbing all the Corporations of that time, no planning was put in place for a much bigger metro city's garbage disposals. BJP did a decent enough job, but could have done better.

Catch: No matter what you show, BBMP will be highlighted. But tell them the limitations of BBMP in a massive sized Bengaluru today. Show traffic, people and other growths from 2008 to 2013. Things can be better, but they are not as bad as made out.

Strategy 11: Talk about Power Handling:

National award for the Varahi implementation. {Pic: KarnatakaPower}

Karnataka also faced massive drought during some BJP years. But still, unlike the much worse situation in the neighbouring Congress ruled Maharashtra, BJP govt brought down the farmer suicides in Karnataka. From 956 between 2008-10 (more than 300 per year), to 38 in 2011 and single digit in 2012! That is an awesome achievement that should be highlighted and contrasted with neighbouring Congress ruled states. Similarly, explain the good-enough coverage of power situation in Karnataka, compared to Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh. In Congress ruled AP for instance, 6000 units in textile, steel & ferro alloy sectors are closed over the past 18 months. 2,00,000 became jobless. All due to Congress government's power crisis mismanagement. In contrast, during the past 5 years, Rs.14,751 crores were invested in the power sector by BJP government in Karnataka. These will result in massive benefits down the line. Even when Raichur themal power plant did not get coal properly from the central Congress government, Karnataka did not run into any major power crisis. In fact, more industries came through during this period.

Catch: Rural power cut will be brought up. Show them average power given from central grid to Karnataka. Contrast with Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh. Then show how well Karnataka still manages with less power.

Strategy 12:  Highlight the fact that Congress is going to doom Karnataka.

This is nothing new. Congress has done it many times before too. Vote for BJP to save Karnataka from the alleged CSR scam tainted Moily, the Telgi scam tainted Kharge, the mining scam tainted SM Krishna and DK Shiva Kumar, to name a few. On top of it, see how the infighting is going on between Parameshwar the Congress state president and Siddaramaiah, the state Congress legislative party leader. Their bickering and fights between seat lobby teams is all out in open. Worse, Congress can't project a CM candidate under any cost before the election, as infighting will doom the party! BJP in contrast has a firm CM candidate for months. Other parties like KJP, BRSCP and JDS are "atakkuntu lekkakke illa" when it comes to power. They can at the most think of 30-40 seats for king-maker roles, but never the king. Don't waste time going after them, particularly Yeddyurappa's KJP. It won't help BJP in any way. Remember, your opponent is
Congress primarily, and the lack of discipline shown between 2008-11 by BJP itself, secondarily.

Catch: That leader is corrupt, this leader is corrupt, will come up. But what you need to do is to compare the extent of alleged corruption or scam. The lesser evil is always a better choice, which is BJP in this case. Then if ULB election topic comes up, compare with 2007 there too.



Summary:

Remember, BJP had a much better chance to be in stronger position by April 2013, than where they are today. But still, all is not lost. Give your best shot. You never know, you can get 90 or more seats in May! The main reason being, the other choices in front of Karnataka voters are much more depressing and awful. A CM candidate-less Congress and a bunch of regional outfits.

Strategy Details That Made Israel Win The 1967 War

Yesterday, I got a chance to watch some truly breathtaking videos about the 1967 war between Israel and the Arab neighbours like Jordan, Syria and Egypt.There is already well documented detail in the Wikipedia on this Six-Day War, with nearly 300 references, pictures, maps, links etc.

No, I am not a military strategy expert. I am not writing here the sequence by sequence of what exactly happened. But what I am going to highlight are the subtle tactical advantages Israel developed, which made it win the war in just six days, against incredible odds! Even the massive nations like China, Russia, India, USA have struggled for a long period to win, or come anywhere closer to a win, in wars.

So how did this very tiny nation of Israel do it in 1967? The details that I would be highlighting are from these six-part videos. They elaborate on how Israel's focus on details changed the balance towards it. Every army in the world is a professional unit, but the subtle strategic observations and tweaking, makes a huge difference in the final outcome. You can watch them when you get a chance. Whether you get time to watch them or not, if you read further here, you will get a clear idea of the importance of strategy.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E63AKJpa1Tk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaTq_Q2X6tk
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4wD5fet_n0
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcVu4oPR39I
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgjxY6PQJvA
Part 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvc0-nxpoSE

The Odds Against Israel: 

1. Israel was and is a very tiny nation. In 1967, its population was just around 27,00,000. That's less 1/3rd of today's Bengaluru city, to give you a perspective. So the number of able bodied men for combat would have been just a few lakhs, max.
2. Israel is in a mostly desert location. Heat and severe water shortage can cripple it.
3. Israel's opponents were far bigger and much more coordinated. For years, Egypt (33.4 million population), Jordan (1.3 mn) and Syria (5.8 mn) had planned a massive assault to finish off this tiny Jewish nation. The very creation of Israel, as a homeland for Jews based on historical claims, after World war 2, was not accepted by the Arab countries. To make matters complex, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Morocco, Algeria, Libya,  Kuwait,  Tunisia, Sudan and Palestinian Territories had given their armed support to the three warring Arab nations. So 1 tiny Israel versus 3 plus 9 Arab nations! A 2.7 million populated nation versus 40.5 million direct combat population, plus 10s of millions of expeditionary supporting population. A population disadvantage of at least 15 times.
   

   

   Israel (in blue) compared to Arab World, in size. {iris.org.il}

4. Israel had some support form NATO led by US, but none of them in the direct combat. Whereas, Arab opponents were united and well coordinated. Essentially it was a Jewish versus Muslim ideological war.
5. Israel was created just 19 years before this war. It is extremely hard to create a cohesion among the population when it was formed by people, mostly coming from a vastly different European nations. Language, culture and many more things had to be fused together onto their common religious background. On the other hand, many of the Arab nations had long history of continuous presence in their current boundaries, giving them a huge cohesion advantage.
6. There were more odds, but these were the biggest ones. Essentially, if Israel messed up even one frontier of the war, among the three main ones, it would have been doomed. It is not like India or China wherein if a few million got affected in one part, the others can go help and rebuild. The entire nation was 27,00,000 in human count. You lose a few 10s of 1000s of soldiers and you are history!

So how did Israel pull off a spectacular victory, that too in straight 6 days? It was not the numerical superiority in planes, tanks, soldiers or guns.. but it was the tactical and strategical superiority built over the years. A classic case of how a nation can win, even when it has huge disadvantages described above.

Here are my top-10 strategical picks as to WHY Israel won so brilliantly:

All these picks were instrumental for a 1967 war. They were out of the box-thinking for that era. Keep that in mind. Many of these need to be improvised if they need to be used in 21st century.


A: Offence, the best form of Defence:

Israeli Plane Ground-staff

Advancing Egypt troops in Sinai and Straits of Tiran

The most critical decision Israel made, when the war was inevitable with much bigger and better equipped enemy, was that YOU start the war. You hit where the enemy is expecting the least, and when the enemy is expecting the least. This is easier said than done. Israel had only 206 aircrafts in 1967. Even the most experienced NATO under US guidance, would not run more than 3 missions per aircraft during a war, per day. But Israel decided to run up to 5 missions per day.

And how did they do it? They worked very hard on the logistics. They decided that making the ground staff efficient and quick, is the best way to send the flight back after one mission. This training and care for detail paid off. Planes ran 5 missions during the all important day one!

If Israelis had waited for the enemy to attack first, they probably had no chance to defend.


B: Aim for the runways first, not the planes:

Egyptian Airstrips Targeted

This by far clinched Israel the war. When the enemy  had more airstrips, and many more aircrafts, plus they already surrounded you from three corners, how can you win a war? Israel's answer was ingenious. They decided to not attack the planes of enemy first, but the airstrips. If the airbases have blown up airstrips, there is no way planes could take off. The next step would be to eliminate the the "sitting duck" aircrafts. This was not easy, they had to take off over 50 airstrips of Egypt within hours of day one. This had to be done with precision, speed and surprise. They did it! 80% of the runways and planes of Egypt were blown up in 12 hours, straight.

Once you gain air superiority, you have won half the war.

C: Air strike from the direction when the sun is over the horizon for the enemy.

Sinai approach mapping

This one was unbelievably well researched and orchestrated. Israel had to take pick a time to attack Egypt's aircrafts at Sinai desert first. They collected a large quantity of intelligence first. What time aircrafts are at high alert from Egypt side, what time they are at the base, how the shifts work etc. Finally they zeroed in on 7.45 AM on June 5th. That is the time during  June, when the sun is shining bright in the eastern horizon over the desert, making it very difficult to see that way. With Israel coming from North East, they would be making it very tough for Egyptian military to stare at them in the eastern horizon. They took the gamble. We will go all out attacking, at 7.45 AM taking the natural geographical advantage. They also had computed that at dawn, aircrafts of Egypt would be at high alert, but after some time, planes come down, personnel change, fueling happens and so on. Essentially, with years of intelligence, Israel had computed a window that would give them almost 100% airspace, with all Egyptian planes on the ground. And boy... didn't they cash on this home work perfectly?

D: Fly very close to the sea water, below radar's range:

Fly very close to water

Another big challenge was to keep the surprise factor. Before the attack Monday, Israel had pretended to drop the guard, by sending soldiers home for the weekend. Pictures of the them swimming & having fun with family was in Jerusalem Post. Arabs were a bit relaxed even though they were the one planning to attack first. But when Monday morning came, Israel had launched an all out war. If the Egyptian radars caught the Israeli Mirage planes heading towards Sinai, the game would have been very tough. So Israel approached from the sea. Flying at over 500 miles per hour speed, these war weapons had to keep an altitude of less than 100 feet! At that speed, it is a miracle that they didn't crash to the sea. Aim at the horizon, fly dead straight and not a second of distraction looking right or left. They practiced it and flew to perfection beating Egypt radars.  

E: Invent indigenous Desert warfare technologies:

Modified M51 Sherman Tank

In any war, if you are attacking, a numerical advantage of 3 to 1 is preferred. Otherwise, you will see lots of casualty. But here, Israel was in the reverse. It had a 1 to 3 disadvantage against Egypt in terms of tanks and other artillery. So they had to find very unique methods to even attempt this war beyond air strikes. What they did was phenomenal. They studied the desert terrain meticulously. They modified their M51 Sherman tanks, which were one generation behind Egypt's superior T54 and T55s. They modified them precisely to scale tougher sand slopes, get more traction in the loose sand, sustain heat and much more.
 
F: Map the desert and trap the retreating enemy:

Egypt retreat

Clean strike of a retreating Egypt tank.

 Then, they created a very detailed map of how to approach the desert, in a way they would surprise Egyptians and hit them from areas where they least expected. These preparations paid off. The roads or approaches from which Egypt expected Israeli tanks, were not used. Instead they used approaches that gave them strategical advantage.

Most importantly, they planned and anticipated the routes that Egyptians might take, if they have to retreat. Egypt troops were trapped between Bir, Gidi and Mitla passes.This was to cause maximum damage and force the enemy to surrender quickly.


G: Maximize damage of Enemy tanks with new methods: Napalm

100s of T54s and T55s destroyed in 36 hours

Napalm was the game changer for Israel here. Since Israel had achieved air control almost 100%, they could strike at will. Once the initial tank war resulted in heavy losses, Egypt was forced to retreat. As Israelis anticipated the routes of retreat, they trapped Egyptians and used Napalm bombs.  These were modified jelly bombs with thickening agent reinforced, which caused extensive damage by keeping the fire going even after the initial explosion. Again small innovation, and big payout.
 
H: Water, water and water. Drink lots of it:

In 1960s, drinking a liter of water per day was the norm for soldiers in wars. Since most wars were in Europe, the cold conditions had brought in these norms. However, Israel improvised drastically here. They brought in one liter of water per hour method in the hot West Asian desert climate. This was revolutionary for that era. With months of such preparation, even at 20 liters of sweat per person, per day, Israelis could fight out in the heat. Even though Egyptian soldiers were also very familiar with the terrain, they lacked this particular knowledge.

Egyptian soldiers surrendering

This made a huge impact in the Sinai desert war. When Egyptian infantry and tank personnel had to retreat, they had to walk up to 200 KM in hot desert. They neither had the one liter of water per hour practice, nor they carried that much supply in the appropriate containers. So the dehydrated Egyptian soldiers suffered huge losses.  

I: Intelligence, Intelligence and Intelligence:

Greenery around trenches at Golan.

Live broadcast of spy Eli Cohen's hanging, in Syria

With Egypt and Jordan taken off, with Jerusalem in its kitty, Israel had to scale the Golan Heights. If this is captured from Syrian control, Israel would have a big advantage in keeping Syria from invading Israel. But these mountains were trenched, hard and setup with three layers of defence by Syria. The only way Israel could even make an impact was to get confidential information on the artillery positioning on top of the mountain, as well as the trench information. This is where the most famous spy agency Mossad came into place. Eli Cohen was the most famous spy of Mossad, who used his Egyptian upbringing to infiltrate Syrian military deep inside. He passed on valuable information to Israel, but his biggest contribution was to convince Syria to plant trees next to trenches, for shade, so that soldiers were not sun-burnt.

Golan Heights Trenches

Eli Cohen got caught eventually, and was publicly hanged by Syria in a televised event. But his life did not go in waste. Syria had been trapped to setting up trees next to trenches in an otherwise bald Golan Heights mountainous terrain. Israel exploited this info to its best advantage firing exactly where they had to, causing maximum damage to Syria, in a very short time.     

J: Know which gun to use and where:

Uzi 9 mm light sub-machine gun

This may sound very trivial, but Israel paid attention to detail. When Syria was using the legendary AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifles, Israel bought and customized Uzi 9 mm light sub-machine guns. Any military officer would have been perplexed with this as AK-47 was far superior in hitting the targets, but Israelis knew why they picked Uzi. The war was not going to be in the open areas, but in close cornered trenches. They needed a gun that would reload quickly, maneuver quickly and easy to shoot at short distance. Such a vital plan was rehearsed and well executed, giving Israel the coveted Golan Heights pass.

When you sum all the strategical advantages created by ingenuity, you will understand how a tiny little country won against massive odds, that too in six days straight.

Wow Israel.. Take a bow!

{Picture credits: Wiki and History Channel Videos - links posted}

Kaveri River Water Sharing : What Are The Solutions?

Kaveri or Cauvery river is one of the 7 holiest rivers for Hindus. In many Dharmic poojas, the water filled into the kalasha or holy vessel, is adored with a chant. "Gange cha Yamune chaiva, Godavari Saraswati. Narmada Sindhu Kaveri, Jalesmin Sannidhim Kuru". It essentially means the water being used for the worship of Bhagawan or Bhagawati, is as sacred as the combination of all 7 holy rivers.

Mother Kaveri's Statue. {Source: Deccan Herald}

Kaveri is the "Jeeva Nadi" or life sustaining river. It is very highly revered by both Kannada (also Kodava) and Tamil people. You can hear 100s of celebratory songs like the super hit song Kodagina Kaveri . You can also see many customary celebrations like Aadi Perukku which is a very special time for Kaveri delta people. In short, SHE is the mother for those who live along its banks.. and SHE is theirs! These people do not understand the artificial linguistic state formation boundaries, politics, courts and other systems.

But today, when you hear Kaveri, what comes to your mind? If you are a person from Tamil Nadu (or Pudhucherry for some part) the "villain" is a state to the north west, Karnataka. If you are from Karnataka (or to some extent Kerala), the "villain" is a state to the south east, Tamil Nadu. And, this is not something that is for just 2012 or 2007 or 2002 or 1991.. this is happening for over 200 years now. The holiest of rivers adored and worshiped as "Kaveri Maata" or Mother Kaveri, has become a humongous political, agricultural, legal, economic and propaganda fight in South India. It does not even leave students or movie industry folks..

Why did this happen? How did this happen? Is there any way out, even if the process is gradual?

For that some basics will be needed. No, I am not going to present every detail about how the dispute got magnified till this time. There are enough resources in internet, court papers, government documents and in media for you to read through. Also, if you are reading till here, most likely you have a special interest in this case, as for most India out of South India, this is just one of those "burning" issues that keep coming up again and again. Like Telangana, Amarnath Yatra, state border disputes and more. Not much interest will be left by now, for those folks. So this is for only those who have a stake in Kaveri water or those who want a peaceful south India in the long run. I am in no way an expert in this topic, but since I drink Kaveri water every day, I have special interest in learning more from my readers here. For that I will present what I have understood about the topic and seek your comments and/or corrections.

Map of the River:

Kaveri is born at Talakaveri in south Western mountains of Karnataka. After Talakaveri, you will find a long list of sacred places and temple towns all through its 765 KM flow towards south East, where it merges with Bay of Bengal. Out of this trek, 320 KM is in Karnataka and 416 is in Tamil Nadu. Some of the places are, Bhagamandala, Kushalnagar, Srirangapartna and T Narasipura in Karnataka. Then Mettur, Bhavani-Thirunana, Erode, Kodumudi, Karur, Tiruchirappalli/Srirangam, Thiruvaiyaru, Swamimalai, Kumbha konam, Mayavaram and Poompuhar in Tamil Nadu.

Kaveri River Map. {Source: jazztravels}

There are many tributaties of Kaveri like Hemavati, Shimsha, Arkavathy (now dry), Kabini, Bhavani, Noyyal and Amaravati. The majestic Shivanasamudra falls and Hogenikal falls are very famous tourist destination getting lakhs of people each year.

Dams and sizes:

Kaveri may be a small river among the 7 giant rivers of India mentioned above (with Saraswati dry now), but it does have many dams.

KRS Dam, Karnataka. {Source: InMysore}

But the two key dams to note are Krishna Raja Sagar dam in Mandya district of Karnataka and Mettur dam in Salem district of Tamil Nadu.

KRS dam, built in 1924, is 125 feet tall, 3 KM in length and can store a max capacity of 49 TMC of water. 

Mettur Dam, Tamil Nadu. {Source: Wikipedia}

Mettur dam, built in 1934, is 120 feet tall, 1.7 KM in length and can store a max capacity of 93.4 TMC of water.

Leaving aside dead storage capacity, you can assume that KRS dam can hold about 44 TMC of water and Mettur can hold about 88 TMC of water. So approximately, Mettur can hold twice as much water as KRS dam. Incidentally, KRS was built entirely by the great engineer Bharat Ratna, Sir M. Vishveshwaraiah and I have heard that he gave the design for Mettur dam too. One thing is in common. both are very vital dams and both are very old. One other important thing to note, all dams in Karnataka together can hold only around 10% of the annual water flow in Kaveri that is in excess of 725 TMC.


Agreements:

Kaveri water sharing discussions and disputes go back over 200 years. Right from the beginning of 19th century, there are discussions involving the Mysore independent princely state (now part of Karnataka) and Madras British Presidency (now Tamil Nadu). The two key agreements to note are from 1892 and 1924. There were other minor agreements too. While Karnataka kept asking right after independence to repeal these British era agreements and form new one, Tamil Nadu insisted on the same, as there was a huge advantage for it to keep them. So everything boiled down to 1991 tribunal interim order and 2007 final order from Indian government.

Details of Kaveri water sources, usage area and contentions. {Source: Wikipedia}

The table in the image above (click on it for a bigger display) shows the basin area, drought area, sources of water per each state's arguments, quantity sought by each state and what is currently in vogue per the 2007 Kaveri Water Tribunal verdict. The numbers are complex, and contentious. Lots of court paperwork exists for those who want to research further. If you see one of the rows showing the demand of states involved, the total quantity of water will be 157% of what is available during an average year. So it is impossible, to give what the states are asking, as the demand is too higher than supply.

But at a higher level, approximately, 30% of the water river sources are in Tamil Nadu and 53% are in Karnataka. Also, approximately 54% of the river basin area is in Tamil Nadu and 42% is in Karnataka. And finally, the Government of India appointed (chaired by the Prime Minister of India) and monitored tribunal says 58% of the water should be used by Tamil Nadu and 37% by Karnataka. To keep matters simple, I am not getting into Pudhucherry and Kerala's matters which involve the final 5% of water usage.

In reality, the core contention between the states is the source, usage and times of usage of water.

Crop and Rain Patterns:

Paddy cultivation in Kaveri delta. {Source: Indiawaterportal}

Paddy, Sugarcane, Ragi and Jowar are the four major crops grown along Kaveri river basin. Out of these, Mandya district of Karnataka and Tanjavur, Pudukottai, Tiruchirapalli and Kadalur districts of Tamil Nadu grow the most water intensive Paddy. Kadalur in TN is also growing the most sugar cane, another highly water intensive crop.

Domestic Water Consumption from Kaveri. {Source: Indiawaterportal}

When it comes to drinking water projects using Kaveri, it is mostly in Karnataka. As you can see in the image here showing water consumtion at urban local bodies, Bengaluru has a skyscraper literally. Many other towns and cities across south Karnataka depend heavily or solely on Kaveri for drinking water of urban population.

For those seriously interested in learning more about Kaveri delta's crop patterns, please refer to India Water Portal for a wealth of information.

In Karnataka, Mandya is the most blessed district as it grows very high quality crops using Kaveri. In Tamil Nadu, coastal Kaveri delta grows 3 crops in Kaveri delta. Jun-Sep Kuruvai, July-Jan Samba paddy and Oct-Feb Taladi. Kaveri delta farmers of Karnataka get rain only from SW Monsoon (Jun-Sep). TN Kaveri farmers get both SW and NE Monsoons (NE starts in Oct).

Main complaints from Karnataka:

1) Disproportionate Usage by Tamil Nadu: While only 30% or so water sources of Kaveri are from Tamil Nadu, why should it be allowed to use 65 to 70% of water each year, including the water that flows downstream anyway? Both are Indian states, and when Karnataka contributes to 53% of water to the river, restricting it to use only 37% or less of water is unjust.

2) Distress formula, drinking water and North East Monsoon: This is a major problem with Kaveri water sharing agreements and tribunals. There's NO practical formula when rains fail. For instance, in the year 2012, nearly half of rains have failed. During such years, distress has to be equally shared between the states. The Prime Minister, who heads the tribunal should not force monthly water to be released per regular year computations, when there is half rain as a regular year. What Karnataka farmers say, there's usually more water in early October in TN reservoirs than Karnataka (56 TMC in TN as of Oct 3rd, 2012, while around 46 TMC in KA). And it rains 2 to 3 more months in TN still. Why should central government side against Karnataka to dry the dams in October in such condition? Once water is left, it does not climb up gravitational pull to a upper riparian state. Some even quote UN A/HRC/RES/18/1 Human Rights clause to say that drinking water in Karnataka should be a higher priority than 2nd or 3rd crop being grown in Tamil Nadu, when water is scarce.

3) TN is a bullying neighbour, right from British era: Just today in the newspapers, an expert L Sandesh wrote Cauvery row: 200 years of oppression by Tamil Nadu. There are books, papers, documentaries and countless such arguments that Karnataka (and Mysore before) is made to suffer due to a lopsided British agreement which was heavily against the interests of Karnataka all along. Worse, terrorists like LTTE and smugglers/killers like Veerappan have bullied the state in an undemocratic way. Another point that keeps coming up in news papers is that since Tamil Nadu has India's largest number of registered regional parties, it has a bigger political muscle to use in Dilli against Karnataka, in the era of coalition politics.

4) Not allowed to expand or build new dams: This is also a common complaint. Karnataka has not been allowed to build/enhance any Kaveri dam for decades. Any irrigation or drinking water project, usually sees a court battle from TN. When the population of Bengaluru doubled in the past 20 years, the number of farmers needing water in 4 to 5 districts is very high, more water should be made available to the state that contributes over half of Kaveri water, is their argument.


5) Cultivated area mismatch: This goes hand in hand some of the above ones. There is no definite per district cultivated land area as the numbers keep varying. But at a high level, it is safe to assume that Tamil Nadu cultivates 2.5 to 3 times the area that Karnataka cutivates using Kaveri water. Some of this addition in TN was done in violation of the 1924 agreement that was in vogue till 1974, where max limits were proposed to both states. That is the argument of Karnataka farmers.

6) Water wasted at Bay of Bengal: In spite of all this heavy fight for TMC by TMC of water, lots of water gets wasted into the sea at TN. Why can't it be used more productively, instead of snatching more from Karnataka?

Main complaints from Tamil Nadu:

1) Violation of Supreme Court orders: This is the most popular phrase in any Tamil Nadu politics. Karnataka is a bad state that violates supreme court orders. Details are provided to show how crops are standing and Karnataka is storing water in the dams, but not releasing as per court orders or Tribunal orders. Note that there is a frequent plea to gazette the tribunal order and also to strictly monitor monthly release of water from Karnataka.

2) Violence and Disruption: In 1991, when the interim order of Kaveri tribunal came through, which was strongly opposed in Karnataka, riots broke out. 18 people were killed in this primarily anti Tamil Nadu riots. Small scale reprisals happened in TN too, but this terrible period under Congress government in Karnataka, is often cited as how intolerant and violent Karnataka people can get, when it comes to river water sharing. Also, since the most active national highway in southern India, NH-4 from Mumbai to Chennai, passes through Karnataka for a big 500+ KM distance, lots of vehicle movement disruption and damage happened in the past.

3) Manage your water sources better: Why punish TN farmers when Karnataka fails to take care of its irrigation and drinking water projects better? Clean up the lakes, revive other rivers, but don't reduce Kaveri water that is the lifeline of millions of farmers in TN Kaveri delta.

4) Karnataka gets more rain and has more water sources: Annual rainfall in Karnataka is 1248 mm.Tamil Nadu receives less than 1000 mm of rain on an average. Why not use other rivers in Karnataka and let Kaveri be used by mostly Tamil Nadu as it is done for 1000s of years? There are no major water sources other than Kaveri for central and coastal TN.

5) Insensitive neighbour: Karnataka does not care for Tamil Nadu people. By blocking Kaveri river, which is "our" right, it is turning the fertile arable land into desert. In here, you can see lots of videos and propaganda material showing that Karnataka is a bad neighbour. Listen to some of the speeches of politicians.

6) Can't Trust Karnataka and Wait till January: When KRS and other smaller Karnataka dams are close to being full in September, even though there is water in Mettur dam in TN, we can't trust Karnataka to hold our share of water till December or January, when crops need this water. That's why we need water to be released monthly.


Solutions? 

Before getting into solutions, the most important ground realities to note are :-

• Kaveri is a sacred river for all those who use it directly or indirectly.
• Kaveri water has to be shared by all those who have a stake at it. This is for today, 10 years from now and even 500 years from now. 
• There is NOT enough water in Kaveri already, to support the drinking water needs of over 2 crore people and the irrigation needs of 81,000 sq KM area. Compared to bigger rivers, 700-800 TMC total water availability here is low.
• Only rivers connected to Kaveri area must be considered in computations and arguments. For instance west flowing rivers in coastal Karnataka get lots of rain, but can't be of any use to Mandya farmers or Bengaluru homes. Similarly, water sources in Tamil Nadu dependent on Kerala or Andhra Pradesh can't be discussed in this matter, as they serve other areas of the state.
• No matter what politicians and other "my state only" organizations say, Kaveri river is NOT any one state's property. It has to be shared. Shared today, tomorrow and for ever. There is an entire generation of politicians on both sides, who have grown up doing "my state should get everything, you can go to hell" politics. That attitude does not help solve the vexed issue.
• Since both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are progressive states that are doing very well in the Indian context, a peaceful co-existence is a must. For that water is a very essential source which can't lead to tension and legal/street battles.

Now that we know some ground principles of peaceful co-existence, let's look into what can be done:

1) Conserve Water: There are 100s of ways both urban and rural population can conserve water. You can be assured that as years progress, as population grows in both states, there will be lesser and lesser Kaveri water available. Check out some ideas like these. Also, drip irrigation for paddy is a novel option to explore.

2) Rain water harvesting: I am glad that Bengaluru corporation is not going to give building plan approvals now, if the new homes/buildings being constructed don't have rain water harvesting. Even existing houses can implement this as this video shows in simple terms.

3) Removing silt from dams: Across both states, massive effort must be done to remove silt from dams. When there is capacity for x TMC, fill the dams fully when the rains come, so that those 4 to 6 TMC missed out per dam will make a big impact during dry months.

4) Reviving smaller rivers: One river that comes to mind easily is Arkavathy river west of Bengaluru city. When I was a kid, I used to drink waters of Arkavathy river supplied from Tippagondana Halli reservoir. Now the river is dead. Revival plans are hearty to note. Such small effort will go a long way in reducing dependency on only Kaveri. Tamil Nadu could start with Noyyal river revival immediately which is polluted heavily and hard to use. Both states should revive every possible river as every TMC of water counts!

Puttenahalli Lake in Bengaluru, Revived. {Source: citizenmatters}

5) Reviving lakes: Tamil Nadu for instance had 40000 lakes in the year 1960. By the year 2000, it had lost 10,000 lakes! That's a huge number of lakes lost to pollution, industrial waste and encroachment. There should be a war like attempt by NGOs, common people and governments to revive the life sustaining lakes. One such fantastic effort is happening now in Karnataka, at the Puttenahalli lake area. Everyone knows that 100s of lakes around Bengaluru got gobbled by real state. Revive them. Again, every drop counts!


6) Preventing precious river water wasted into sea: I personally don't know what percentage of Kaveri water goes into sea unused, but going by the comparisons I have seen for Krishna river, it must be high. Use every drop of this precious river's water. 100s of TMC of water can be added to use by practical use of every drop of water.

7) Growing less water intensive crops: As you have noted from the crops section above, massive amount of water intensive paddy and sugar cane are grown by Kaveri delta farmers. Anywhere from 55 to 70% of the total crops grown could be paddy. Keep in mind, Tamil Nadu has access to only 3% of the water in India. Karnataka has the 2nd largest amount of dry land in India after Rajasthan. Why grow so much paddy which requires lots of water? Switch to less water intensive, but good nutritious millets. Or switch to paddy varieties that use half the water per KG (from 5000 liters to 2500 liters) like S Anand, a farmer from Huthenahalli, Chikkajala, demonstrated. Since majority of Kaveri water is used for agriculture and that too for paddy, this solution alone can save lots of water and save both states!

A Farmer suffering drought. {Source: The Hindu}

8) Distress formula: Share the hit of nature equally: If the rains are down by 30%, both states should take a hit of 30% water for that month or season. Be good neighbours during tougher times. Every 10 years or so, there is a massive drought in Kaveri area. 1991, 2002 and now 2012 are examples. Don't fight it all the way till Supreme Court as it only worsens the relations. CMs should sit down and agree on a reduced water sharing and crop cultivation for that year. The central government should not be partial to either of the states due to coalition compulsions. Both are Indian states, and the PM can't favour one state over another. Blame games are not going to help anyone. A farmer without water for crops or a house without drinking water is going to suffer no matter in which state.

9) Understand the 21st century's needs of both states, not 19th or 20th century demands: Yes, before the age of Mettur or KRS dams, majority of the water was available for Tanjavur & nearby areas for crops. So obviously generations of farmers depended solely upon that. But now things have changed. There's Mandya irrigated heavily. There is a very fast growing Bengaluru city that needs more water than ever before. There are districts long before Tanjavur or Kadalur in both states that have started irrigating from Kaveri. There is Hogenikal kind of new drinking water projects in TN. Tamil Nadu insisting on 2/3rd or more of water, while Karnataka insisting on half of Kaveri water is just not working out. It's a small river again, for the crores of population it supports. Sit and decide how to handle around 725 TMC of total annual water available, in the best possible way. No one is a victim, no one is a villain, if farmers talk to each other directly. After all every farmer and every user of Kaveri water is an Indian.

10) Think of other give and take policies: For instance Karnataka buys water from Maharashtra, the upper riparian state, during dry season by paying certain amount of crores per TMC. In 2004, Karnataka paid 3.3 crores Rupees to Maharashtra to buy 2 TMC of water in adverse conditions. Maybe power in return for water during hard times, or a share in agricultural crop yield for water. Think outside the box. I have repeated enough that there is not enough water for everyone's demand, so innovative approaches need to be developed.

If you read it all the way till here, I hope you really got some clarity on what the issue is, why it keeps popping up so often, and what are the possible ways we can think positively and resolve the issues. After all, Indians sharing water with Indians, Indians not bullying Indians and Indians living peacefully with other Indians will not be disliked by anyone..except the generation of politicians or street organizations that have thrived using this conflict.

Thanks to my online friends who raised some of these points during discussions and also gave some ideas.

Do drop in your comments, corrections, and ideas. I am by no means an expert in this area, so I am always willing to learn from the knowledgable. All I wish is peace.. Shantih!

The Incredible Paralympics

The glamorous and high performance Olympics is over. But don't forget, the equally incredible Para Olympics or Paralympics is underway.

When I watched the Chinese girl Lu Dong getting ready to start the women's swimming finals, biting a towel at the start as she has no hands, I got a bit emotional. It was incredible to see this girl without hands beat others who have hands and win gold!

The incredible Lu Dong. {Source: deltatre.com}

That was 5 days ago.

Yesterday, history was made from Indian perspective. A 24 year old poor village boy from Karnataka, made India proud by winning India's first ever Paralympics High Jump medal!!

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda won India's first medal in the London 2012 Paralympics, a silver, with a leg like this..

Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda. {Source: Daylife}

Girisha delivering his Silver winning jump.{Source: Jagran}

Here's the video of Girisha Hosanagara Nagarajegowda winning silver for India at London paraolympics. Will get tears in your eyes, not just for him, but for all contestants for what they endure overcoming all odd.

It was a shame that no Indian TV covered live when Girisha won Silver. Paralympics is not something that any commercial channel would cover, at least in today's sports situation. His personal best was 1.60 at big events, but cleared 1.74 meters.

Do also read the entire interview of Girisha HN , before his Silver expedition at the Paralympics. Kudos to ING Vysya & Samarthanam NGO for supporting this village boy. Of course, he thanks Sahana Kumari, a high jumper from his own state who missed a medal in 2012 Olympics, but did wonderfully well to guide Girisha to win a medal!

How are you training and preparing for the event?

Girisha showing his Silver proudly. {Source: GettyImages}

GHN: I have been training here in Bangalore right from March, learning techniques under the guidance of coach Satyanarayana of Karnataka Athletics Association, Nikitin, a Ukrainian trainer employed with Sports Authority of India and Olympics-qualified high-jumper Sahana Kumari.

 How did you get to where you are, what was the qualification process like?

GHN: I come from a very poor family, from a village in Karnataka. Between 2008 and 2010 I was not able to take part in sports. Then I underwent the soft skills and BPO training at Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. That turned things around for me. I was recruited by ING Vysya Bank. I worked at the bank. In 2012, I was in Kuwait for the Paralympics qualifier, with the Rs. 80,000 sponsorship from ING Vysya. I won a gold medal and qualified for the Paralympics. It was a dream come true for me, like attaining the fruit of penance.

I am one of the five athletes from all over India who qualified, and the only one from the south. I topped in the trials. I had to give up my job for the Paralympics training since it was not possible to take more than a 2-month break, and I was required to be away for six months. But I feel like I am a sportsman today. The outcome is secondary; I feel I have achieved something regardless. I hope this will be an example to others.

Indeed, he has set an example that will motivate thousands like him in the coming years.

Come.. Let's congratulate Girisha for creating history yesterday!