India Journal: My Riffs on The Hindu About the Vice-Consul's Arrest

This editorial in The Hindu today about the arrest of the Indian consul officer is rather sensible, and the writers raise some points that bear further consideration:

"A strip search, examination of body cavities and the possible use of restraints other than handcuffs such as waist chains and shackles, are grossly over-the-top steps to use against any detained person. These are automatic, non-discriminatory and legal post-arrest procedures, but that does not make them any better."

This raises a couple of important points. First, the standard protocols of the USMS (Marshal Service) may be too rigorous and intimidating. But if the protocols are too harsh, they are so "for any detained person." So the question isn't whether a counselor officer should have been processed in this manner, but whether anyone should have been. Drug lords? Murderers? Flight or suicide risks? Suicide attempts by persons not shocked by the experience of jailing are not that rare, and any jail must have precautions in place. Precautions must certainly include a search of the prisoner, so even persons accused of non-violent crimes such as this one will undergo an extensive search. So, either the protocols are good for everyone, or at least every class of arrestee, or they should be changed for everyone.

But all of this leads to a deeper difference between the U.S. and India perspectives. Americans are rule-oriented and egalitarian, our dramatic increase in economic inequality in the last 40 years notwithstanding. India, despite its democratic political system, is still very hierarchical and exhibits telling instances of social deference. Also, rule-governed conduct is less common here. Thus, some in India expect special treatment, while others (lower status persons) expect nothing in the way of courtesy or respect. (Not that they don't want courtesy and respect, of course.) The caste system has been officially outlawed for decades, but it's lingering effects--much like those of slavery in the U.S.--remain today, just beneath the surface. I suspect that the endemic corruption of India is exacerbated by a sense of social entitlement combined with the generic motive of greed.

Another interesting point from this article in The Hindu makes the claim that the diplomat is from a Scheduled Class (caste). (ST is scheduled tribe.) The quotes states:

The DMK’s Kanimozhi said one could not shut one’s eyes to the fact that the victim belonged to the SC and such action across the ocean would prove detrimental in the uplift of the community. Pointing out that SC and ST girls had to struggle to come up in life, Ms. Kanimozhi said Ms. Khobragade’s was an example to the community but if she was insulted it would not only instil fear in the community back home but also affect its growth.

It's against the law to criticize a SC/ST (ask Ashish Nandy). Like any betterment program for the under-privileged, it can be gamed, especially by politicians. Thus, this angle on the controversy plays a high value trump card in national politics. 

Little has been said or written about the servant whom the accused brought over and then is alleged to have failed to have properly paid. Many here have household servants, and treatment of servants isn't always good. We Americans are used to "Upstairs/Downstairs" or (for the younger crowd) "Downton Abbey" master and servant relationships, all genteel and, at least to some degree, reciprocal. I don't think that this is the norm here. As an American, I'm still ill at ease with all of the serving gestures that I receive from many locals, such as spreading a napkin in my lap (mastered that at age four) or the guard who stands when I walk by the  gate. I'm not the Pope, the president, or an important person. One doesn't encounter this type of deference among all locals; it's a much more familiar social milieu of relative equality when you're not dealing with serving persons. In India, social standing receives a lot more consideration, and higher-ups receive much greater deference when we're considering whether a person has received appropriate treatment, .

The Hindu editorial goes on:

Never known for taking on the U.S on substantive policy issues, the government’s unusually aggressive reactions — and those of political parties too — on behalf of a diplomat, smell of political considerations ahead of an election. From the Prime Minister and Ministers of Home and External Affairs to the Bahujan Samaj Party leader, everyone has weighed in on her side. In the furore, it has been all but forgotten that there are serious charges against the diplomat, and that the domestic worker is also an Indian. It is certainly odd that the domestic worker’s family was able to obtain visas to travel to the U.S even while Ms. Khobragade’s request to have her traced remained pending. Despite Indian diplomats being embroiled in similar cases in the past, each time blaming the domestic worker’s motives — in all previous cases, the complainant got long-term residency in the U.S — the government has only now started giving serious thought to managing the practice of officials taking domestic staff along on postings abroad

The Hindu's editorial stance makes a strong point here. The seriousness of the offense in U.S. eyes (see above for possible contrasts with the Indian perspective) and  the plight of the servant in questions have been mostly lost on this end of the controversy.

The Hindu editorial continues:

Both sides could have found a mutually acceptable way to defuse the controversy — often in such cases, the issue is closed by withdrawing the diplomat. That the government chose instead to transfer Ms. Khobragade to India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, with a view to enhancing her immunity, is questionable and casts India’s claim of a nation ruled by law in poor light.

I am surprised that all of this wasn't resolved behind the scenes to avoid this kind of stand-off, where Indian pride and dignity are staked against American ideas about the rule of law and the applicability of that law without fear or favor (albeit an ideal not always achieved). I suspect that tucking the diplomat away at the U.N. won't work. Rather than finding a speedy resolution, such a tactic could lead to a long-term stand-off. Neither nation would benefit from that.

India Journal: Diplomatic Kerfuffle

A photo of India's deputy consul general in New York, Devyani Khobragade

On December 12, U.S. Federal Marshals arrested an Indian diplomat (Devyani Khobragade) in NYC for falsifying a visa application for a servant. The gist of the complaint claims that the servant was to have been paid one amount but was in fact paid much less, even less than the minimum wage. The diplomat was arrested while dropping off her daughter at school. The arrest was processed, and the diplomat was jailed until she posted bond.

We first read about this in The Hindu, that we subscribe to and that we consider one of the better papers. When I first learned of this Monday, I searched the NYT for a report, but I couldn’t find one. Today, the headlines in The Hindu reported about the retaliatory actions of a very unhappy Indian government, while the NYT reported about the retaliation in an article as well. The Indian government is indignant about the arrest and treatment that its diplomat received. The American authorities haven’t said much, but they seem to be treating it as a relatively unremarkable matter.

When I read about this arrest initially, I wondered about diplomatic immunity, but the Americans argue that lying on the visa application for the servant (done by the diplomat) and wage and hour violations are not covered by diplomatic immunity. In fact, there is a difference between immunities provided to diplomatic as opposed to consular staff. Given the lack of much argument about this from the Indian papers, I’m inclined to believe that diplomatic (or consular) immunity does not apply in this instance (but I’m no expert).

The Indian government and political class seem more upset about the treatment of the diplomat rather than the substance of the charges. My response is that the treatment doesn’t sound like anything special. Federal law enforcement, in my limited personal experience as well as my reading, can be heavy-handed indeed, but they probably played this one by the book. U.S. Marshals can be brusque, but they don’t tend to discriminate in that regard. I suspect that the diplomat received the same treatment as anyone else arrested on a federal felony charge.  (By the way, the issuance of an arrest warrant means that a judicial magistrate found probable cause to believe that the crime alleged had been committed.) Searches and jailing, I expect, would have followed normal procedures. (I’ve seen nothing to indicate the contrary.)

To say that U.S. and Indian norms for the treatment of women differ a good deal is a titanic understatement. As Hari Kumar points out in the NYT, for airport searches in India, women go through a separate line and go behind a screen for personal searches beyond the metal detector. Thus, we have an issue of diplomatic protocol as well as a difference about how the genders are treated. As to an arrest while dropping (or picking up) a child at school, I can only say that this wouldn’t appear to be any different from what law enforcement officials would do with any other person sought for arrest. Once they have an arrest warrant, you can expect them to do whatever is required of them to apprehend the subject. Federal law enforcement officials don't operate like the constable in an Agatha Christie country house mystery.

All of this happened in NYC, which has a long history of dealing with diplomats accused of crimes, especially since the location of the U.N. there. Given that the subject is an Indian diplomat, one has to assume that the highest levels of prosecutors and State Department officials were advised of the plan and approved of it. The Hindustan Times reports: 

While the state department is reviewing if all the correct procedures were followed,[State Department spokesperson] Harf stressed that the Indian embassy in Washington had been informed of the allegations against the consular official as long ago as September.

As a consular official, Khobragade does not have full diplomatic immunity, but has consular immunity which "only applies to things done in the actual functions of one's job," Harf added.

The diplomat had been arrested by the State Department's diplomatic security bureau, and then handed over to the US Marshals Service (USMS) to be processed through the court system.

In a statement, the Marshals confirmed she had been strip-searched and "was subject to the same search procedures as other USMS arrestees held within the general prisoner population in the Southern District of New York."

Although it did not confirm reports that Khobragade was placed with drug addicts, the statement added that she was held in a cell with other female detainees.
"Absent a special risk or separation order, prisoners are typically placed in the general population," the Marshals statement said, adding she had been put in an "available and appropriate cell."

Khobragade was released on a bond the same day, and after a review of her case the US Marshals found that the service had "handled Khobragade's intake and detention in accordance with USMS policy directives and protocols."

"All indications are that appropriate procedures were followed. But nonetheless. We understand this is a very sensitive issue, and we're continuing to review exactly what transpired," Harf told journalists on Tuesday.

One interesting sidebar: the head prosecutor is an NRI. What difference, if any, did that make? I don’t know, and I’ve seen no conjecture about it. 

The main point that I’d make to any Indian readers is that I’m not aware of any sub-text to the arrest. I’ve not read anything, nor can I conjecture about, any ulterior motive for the arrest. If the diplomat had been from Pakistan, Brazil, or Canada, I don’t know why the matter would be handled any differently.  Remember that when International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York City he had to do a perp walk. It's not kind, gentle, or considerate, but it does convey a powerful message about law enforcement.

American-Indian relations have been good, and one can only hope that this whole thing will pass without untoward gamesmanship on either side. I don’t know what the Americans have to gain from it.

For American readers, this should provide a glimpse of how delicate our relations with other countries can be. We’re the big boys on the global block right now, and nations will easily take offense if they perceive the U.S. as disrespectful or callous about their dignity and standing. (Most nations can tolerate, if the price is right, to have their interests thwarted, but not their honor.)

The retaliation by the Indian government seems more annoying than threatening. Taking down traffic barriers around the embassy will likely reduce the amount of business that the embassy can do, which, based upon my visits there, is quite a bit. Very many Indians want to travel to the U.S. to see family, go to school, or to emigrate, so I’m not sure that this is a wise move. The other acts I think more annoying than harmful. 

In any event, it shows how touchy the diplomatic world can be.Let's hope that the matter is soon laid to rest.

India Journal: Outings in Chennai

I went to Spencer mall by an auto rickshaw the other day. The auto-rickshaws that I see here are in much better condition than those of Jaipur – even the yellow paint seems brighter and less tarnished. The ride of about 2 km from the hotel to the mall cost me about Rs.50.

The mall is a beehive of small shops. Only a couple of businesses deserve to be called stores. One store is a two-level book and supply called Lansing’s in which the books are at least organized by topic, although not alphabetically by author or title. Among the shops, I think there were an equal number of hawkers working the halls as there were shoppers walking those halls. Hawkers seem to be especially common for the small clothing and craft shops. I suspect they’re told to target those of us with whiter complexions; i.e., tourists. I’ve learned the quick and easy head shake for “no” to back them off quickly without having to break my stride. Part of my purpose of going to the mall was to do some mall walking, not engage in hawker talking.

I did find a store that had electrical plug converters that I had long sought. Sometimes finding the simplest items in India can mimic the challenges of a scavenger hunt. However, before I could buy the converters that I wanted, I had to endure the salesman attempting to sell me a type that would not have worked with my American plugs. He tried to convince me that I was wrong, but to my good fortune, I saw exactly what I needed next to the ones that he’d tried to foist upon me.Those, I bought.

I walked for a short ways outside, but as in virtually every Indian city I’ve been in, the walk was not very pleasant. Noisy traffic, fumes, and poorly kept (if existent) sidewalks do not invite casual strolls. With enough exercise under my belt to satisfy myself, I grabbed a return ride for Rs.100 (the return trip is longer because of detours). The initial ask was Rs.150. Bargaining is a way of life here.

In the evening, I joined the Iowa Guru on her quest for some colored card-stock paper, note cards, and foam pieces. She had been directed by her students to a bazaar of paper wallas. The areas proved a long trip from the hotel, even in the car she’s provided. When we arrived around 6 p.m., we found the area crowded, with paper store after paper store after paper store in several directions. An initial inquiry at one store pointed the shop across the street, where the next inquiry pointed us upstairs, where the next inquiry pointed us to a different shop again. In the second store, I saw one hallway so crowded with paper boxes and other paraphernalia that we could hardly squeeze through. At that point, I had more fear of fire than the Scarecrow of Oz. We had to take an elevator to the fifth floor (complete with elevator operator). Fortunately, it was a quick trip, as the small elevator and cramped conditions in the building quickly instilled a sense of claustrophobia in me. But for all our hunting and adventuring in that shop, we turned away empty-handed. In the fourth or fifth shop (one loses count quickly), the Guru found what she needed amongst the stacks of 2014 diaries located inside and just outside of the shop. While I waited just outside (to avoid the stifling heat in the store that remained despite the overhead fans twirling at top speed), the Guru sat patiently beside the shopkeeper waiting for the goods that she’d requested to inspect. The shopkeeper remained glued to the chair next to his till. (He had no cash register, just a cash drawer.) From this perch, he would bark orders to his many minions like a John Barrymore movie character. The Guru suspects the stock boys hid in the storage area across the way just to avoid the old man’s constant barking of directions. Finally, the stock boys returned with the requested goods that met with the Guru's approval. The Guru, by the way, remained serene and composed throughout all of the delay,while I'd feared she might have simply wilted in her seat or to have gone postal in response to the chaos.

We celebrated her small victory with the dinner at the second most highly rated restaurant in Chennai (according to some travel guide). We were glad that it was well known because it seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, located on a narrow, darkly lit street. In fact, although the street was dimly lit, it did seem to be home to a number of high-end shops and maybe some high-end hotels. Because streets are almost uniformly poor here, they don’t readily suggest their occupants.

We tried the Italian cuisine, pizzas to be precise, which proved indifferent. On most occasions, it is a mistake to try to order foreign cuisine in India. Only on rare occasions has the venture proved anything more than passable.

My next venture will be to find a working ATM and a pair of AA batteries. Good luck to me.

Thanksgiving

I woke up today and said "It's turkey-lurky day!" (admittedly not at my Sondheim best at that hour) to put Con and I in the mood for the holiday, but frankly, I don't hold out much hope for any turkey today, nor do I know if I'd want it if offered. Some things just don't travel well, and I expect that the traditional American Thanksgiving meal is one of them. Truth be told, I'm not that fond of turkey anyway, although I do love the stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy. (Turkey sandwiches, on the other hand, are a favorite.) 

As I look out the window, I see trees filled with green leaves, including coconut trees. The weather remains warm, nothing more than a shirt and shorts are needed for dress. We're definitely not in Iowa anymore. This reminds me again of one thing that we miss: the change of seasons. By late fall, the best place to go for me was Kent Park on a Sunday late afternoon. Leaves having fallen, the structure of it all reveals itself. Heraclitus said that Nature loves to hide, but autumn reveals many of Nature's hidden structures. Trees without leaves reveal their bones against the chilled, blue sky. The colors of the prairie grasses glow a greenish gold in the twilight. The surrounding cornfields are no more than stubble now, revealing great expanses of fields and signaling completion another harvest. Under time's bending sickle's compass comes all. Autumn reminds us of this in Iowa. 

By at least Thanksgiving Day, I break out the seasonal music. I've just listened to George Winston's "Thanksgiving" from his December album. The title and tenor of the piece capture the mood and season, but it also has sentimental value to me. I remember dancing with the Glamorous Nomad to this and other Winston pieces when my dancing partner sat in the crook of my arm, happy to twirl to my rude dance in our small living room on 10th Street Place in Coralville. The remainder of the album includes many traditional Christmas pieces that help set the tone for the season. 

Christmas music, outside of the Muzak variety, remains a favorite. From my collection of medieval music to croon an' swoon, some pieces still resonate. The early music pieces speak of the primal celebration of Christmas: of hope, nativity, and new beginnings. I think my fascination with early music comes from the medieval history survey course I took from John Bell Henneman in the fall and early winter semester of 1974. Such a bleak and cold world marked by war, famine, and pestilence. Life so tenuous, yet the Christian culture seemed to provide some measure of hope and relief. Advent and Christmas seem especially to provide a sense of hope to the unimaginable uncertainty of life in that bleak time. So Thanksgiving marks a transition to the Advent season, a season of preparation. (Last night, through the miracle of iTunes, I listened to Sir Alec Guinness recite T.S. Eliot's "Journey of the Magi", a wonderful poem for the season.)

For this year, the transition will include a journey to a land new to us, Ethiopia, as we prepare to see our Africa girl and our China girl and explore more. These ancient lands, so exotic and strange to us, contain societies far older than ours. A land at once new and old.

We have a great deal to give thanks for. It's been an incredible year: Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, and the rest of Rajasthan. Nepal and the Himalayas. Meghalaya and the wettest place on earth above the Bangladeshi plain. Delhi with its monuments and history. Amritsar and the Golden Temple. Dalhousie in the cool and fog of the Himalayan hills. London: our first visit to the great seat of history and culture, where for us the sun shone with little interruption and St. Paul's called to my Protestant roots. Good ol' 345 Magowan in Iowa City: it doesn't seem to want to let us go. Delicious Puebla and grand Mexico City with the great volcano Popocatepetl between them spewing smoke and ash. The comfortable Chicago burbs. Rome--Rome! More incredible art and more living history than one can imagine. Tuscany: only a day, but we shall return because the postcard views proved real and the food and wine beyond words. Chengdu, China: an incredible city, vibrant and amazing; small noodle and dumpling shops and grand, new buildings; and wonderful month with the Glamorous Nomad and her terrific peeps. The Daoist mountain: all high-tech getting there and then a reprieve from it all with the Nature of traditional China. Trivandrum, our new home: lions and tigers for neighbors, ocean breezes and coconut trees below us, and the beach a short--albeit congested--drive away. Here in Chennai: another Indian city that somehow works despite itself. What a year! 

But most of all, it's all worthwhile because of family and friends. Without those we share with, nothing would count. So here's wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks to you.

India Journal: Watch Out Where You Pass Out

Okay, best advice ever: Don't get drunk & pass out.

Second best advice: Don't get drunk & pass out where a python might lurk.

The result of violating the second piece of advice for one guy is reported below. And, yes, this is in the state where we live. Hat tip to the Glamorous Nomad for this news item.

sportsmasher.com

Python Eats Passed Out Drunk Guy In India

• by SportSmasher
• Nov. 27, 2013
• original

A Python ate a person who was drunk and lying beside the liquor shop. News from Attapady, Kerala. pic.twitter.com/2vRqCEaabn
— VIKRAMAN NAIR (@mvnair212) November 27, 2013

Note to self: Do not get drunk and pass out outside in India. I have been incredibly drunk in my checkered past, and I have done some things I am not proud of, including passing out cold in some strange places for lengthy amounts of time. However, I am sure that I would wake up from my drunken slumber if a python was trying to eat me, and i think I would be able to escape his deadly coils. That’s just because I am self confident. Pythons are constrictors, so it is likely that the snake came across the passed out man and could tell that he was still alive, since pythons can sense heat. The snake then constricted the man, and began to suffocate him while he was passed out, so if the man even woke up and realized what was going on it was already too late. Rest in peace, drunk guy, at least your senses were dulled with alcohol when you met your untimely inebriated end.

P.S. Pythons, just like this one have a breeding population in Florida now, since so many Floridians released their huge pet snakes when they could no longer care for them. Check this out:
19 Foot Python Killed Near Miami

India Journal: Ghost Town

Around 3:30 in the afternoon, the Guru and I noticed rain falling. We'd turned on the AC earlier in the day, as the weather had turned still and muggy. We opened the doors to the west balcony and stood listening to the rain shower, and then it hit us. We heard the rain--just the rain. All of the extraneous noise that we usually heard churning in the background was absent. Even the lions and their cohort in the zoo were silent. We stayed, watched, and listened for a while. The Guru laid down for a nap, and so did I in this perfectly soporific environment. But I was unable to sleep and returned to our perch to watch and listen. Nothing. Even the 6 p.m. aerial show by the kites (birds) seems to have been cancelled for lack of interest. A few crows made their way across the  tree tops, but the large bats of twilight provided the mood for the occasion. Silent, seeming to move in slow motion. It  looked and sounded--in its silence--like ghost town. Where was everyone?

We found ourselves in the midst of a dusk to dawn hartal, a general strike. The LDF--Left Democratic Front--had called the strike in response to a government report about preserving the Western Ghats, the ridge of mountains that rise off of the coastal plain in Kerala  The report called for some types of environmental regulation of this beautiful mountain area. Any environmental regulation in India is needed. On the other hand, small farmers in the area and those who were supporting them--including the Christian Churches that cater to about 20% of the population here--called a strike in protest, claiming that the steps recommended by the  report denied them their rights and would cost them their livelihoods. Based on the corruption and outright thievery practiced on the poor here, that might prove very true--just as true as the need for environmental regulation. I don't know where the equities lie in this case. 

I do know that strikes can't help an economy that needs all of the help it can get. I know that many believe--perhaps with a lot of justification--that strikes and public protest are the only avenue for gaining recognition and keeping some measure of rights here. I also know that change--even change for the long-term good, such as preserving eco-systems--proves very difficult because so many people live on the edge of economic ruin. They may not have much, it may be gone tomorrow, but it's all that they have now and they can't trust the government to help them find something better. 

For the Guru and I it meant a quiet day inside. We thought it wise not to venture out even for a walk based on advice from locals. So the day proved pleasant enough, but it also reminded us of how tenuous public order can be here and difficult are the political and economic issues that this nation must address. 

India Journal: Bourne Again Moments

Looking out from our west balcony near sunset

The Guru and I sit on our western balcony around 6 in the evening to watch the sunset. We look out over the solid green canopy of trees below our seventh story perch. A few highrises stare back at us, but they don't grab our attention. The sky usually has some mix of clouds, which, if we're lucky, are just enough to allow a palette to form a multicolored sunset. 
 

A typical sunset view for us

The kites (birds), crows, and very large bats provide aerial displays of acrobatics and, with the help of some parrots, plenty of chatter for our auditory entertainment. In the distance, we hear the muezzin calling the faithful of Islam to prayer. A short while later, after the sun has set, we hear the bells--small bells between the size of church bells and the bells that altar boys rang at mass--that mark the start of worship at the nearby Hindu temple. Meanwhile, the breeze from the ocean just beyond our horizon cools us while at the same time it allows the kites to glide upon its lift, layered above us  at altitudes from eye-level to heights barely visible to us. 

We've come to call these Bourne moments, as if we're in a movie, like a Bourne flick*, in some remote part of world living a life of intrigue and adventure. Well, not so much intrigue, but it is an adventure. I  think the Guru's shirt captures something. 

I think that the adventure is underway

 *The opening scenes of the Bourne Supremacy are set in Goa, just up the coast from us.