Monday, May 28, 2012

Breaking the Silence- the Forces behind the RBIs First Microfinance Circular.





In 1998 when I joined a start-up microfinance company IASC as its first CEO there were a plethora of challenges to be faced from day one. Of the ninety and odd candidates who applied for the position the onus to run the institution fell on my shoulders. HDFC Ltd was the promoter of the company and had inserted an advertisement inviting candidates for the position of the CEO in the middle of the year 1998. With not many microfinance institutions (MFIs) around we had to create precedence and also set an example for many other MFIs.




We took three months for the preparatory work and started rolling out micro-loans from January 1999. Loans were primarily extended to individuals in Self Help Groups (SHGs) and it was an innovation at that point in time. Being a Section 25 company we had planned to carry on the business of microfinance as a non-profit institution.

We had extended loans to a considerable number of  groups (SHGs) when we had to virtually stop business due to the issuance of an important circular by the RBI. The circular was as an aftermath of a series of steps the RBI had taken after the CR Bhansali Scam came to limelight, the second biggest financial scam then. The circular DNBS (PD) No. CC.10/02.59/98-99 April 20, 1999 stated : “ With a view to imparting greater financial soundness and achieving the economies of scale in terms of efficiency of operations and higher managerial skills, the requirement of minimum NOF of Rs. 25 lakhs has been raised to Rs. 200 lakh for the NBFC which commences business of a non-banking financial institution on or after April 21, 1999. This stipulation will not, however, be applicable to NBFCs which are already registered with RBI or to such companies whose applications for a certificate of registration are submitted on or before April 20, 1999.” The circular further stated “In sum, henceforth, any NBFC making an application to Reserve Bank of India for a certificate of registration should have NOF of Rs. 200 lakhs.” The legal advisors of the company advised us to apply to the RBI for registration as an NBFC as there were no exemptions as such and we were also advised to stop business till the matter was solved.

For the next over nine months we had a tough time managing groups (SHGs) which had come to us for repeat loans. We realised that, if repeat loans were not given the earlier loans may have repayment problems. On one side we were convincing the groups that we would be able to come over the problem and on the other side we were actually working towards the registration of the Section 25 company. Sitting in a small office in the second floor in Marthandam, my friend Jobins and I, were burning the midnight oil to send many concept notes to the RBI through the promoter HDFC. Thanks to the involvement of HDFC, the RBI took a special interest in looking at our application. At one point in time I had sent detailed concept notes describing microfinance, poverty level in India, the need for microfinance, and the modus operandi of our financial model.

As days passed on the RBI started taking a special interest in our case and had worked out some solution in their mind and they came back to us asking for more specific concept notes. The most crucial concept note that I prepared for transmission to the RBI was on who could be called as a typical client for a microfinance institution and the upper limits of loans to the microfinance client. I still remember how Jobins and I used to discuss this matter over dinner at Hotel Taj and come back to the office and spend considerable time building up the concept note.

While considering the client of a microfinance institution, we had suggested to include families categorised under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and to some extent families belonging to the Low Income Group (LIG) for which definitions were already available with the Government. We had also insisted that these were the segments of the society which were neglected by the mainstream banks and were vulnerable due to various uncertainties in their cash flow.

With regard to the upper loan limits we both had the longest discussions and took lot of our time to conceive the most logical limits. Since IASC was already rolling out Micro-Housing Loans of Rs 35,000 per individual at that point in time and as we were also pioneers in extending higher loan sizes to village entrepreneurs and farmers for micro-enterprise loans, we decided to include both micro-enterprise loans and micro-housing loans for consideration of the upper limits. The best thing that happened was the far sightedness we both had when we decided to recommend the upper limits. We presumed that if our suggestion was going to be part of some RBI stipulation we need to have at least the next ten years in mind when we decide the upper limit. We extrapolated the then existing loan sizes for the next ten years and then taking into consideration the inflation rates and a few other considerations we arrived  at the upper limits.  We therefore suggested that an upper limit of Rs 50,000 be fixed for the micro-enterprise loan and Rs 1,25,000 be fixed for the micro-housing loan both for individuals.

We both were the happiest persons on January 30th, 2000 when the RBI’s Department of Non-Banking Services (DNBS) came out with a circular signed by Mr YSN Murthy, NOTIFICATION No. DNBS.138/CGM(VSNM)-2000 dated January 13, 2000. 


While on one side the just emerging microfinance sector had all reasons to be happy to see the first ever circular from the RBI on microfinance loan limits,  I felt extremely gratified by the fact that the RBI had accepted our recommendations on the upper limits as we had suggested. History was also created on that day as the RBI had exempted Section 25 companies from the formal registration with the RBI which meant that we could resume business immediately. Mr Murthy then Chief General Manager who consistently worked on the epoch making circular also needs to be appreciated.


People reading this may wonder as to why I have brought this into the public domain after such a long time.  Well someone rightly said that you have to blow your own trumpet yourself as you alone could play the best tune on it. 

P.Uday Shankar.         

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Aarakshan is caste neutral and is a 'must see' movie



I saw Aarakshan on its opening day at Carnatic Theatre in Coimbatore. I was fifteen minutes ahead of the 6.30 pm show and I took my favourite last row centre seat. The seats got filled gradually and when the movie started 90% of the upper class seats were filled. It was heartening to see the enthusiasm in the crowd. I could see most of the Hindi speaking/understanding regulars and a good lot of college students with their back packs. Outside the theatre, we had a van and jeep load of police positioned around the place and it did not deter me and instead I felt gratifying seeing them. The local authorities have to be appreciated for the arrangement.

As a matter of sheer coincidence, I had to attend an induction function of the ‘quota’ stream of MBA freshers in a leading management school in Coimbatore where I am a Visiting Professor at 4.30 pm. The institute had already completed the process of selection of the management quota and today we had the induction ceremony for almost an equal number of students which was enabled through a transparent and meticulous process done by the Government after the TANCET exams. As part of the function a short film on the institution’s founders and the yeoman service carried on by the fourth generation of the family was shown. As I left the convention hall I felt elated to be a part of a great institution and thanked God for providing me this opportunity to teach at the fag end of my career. I slipped out of the hall at 5.45 pm and drove at neck breaking speed on my good old scooter to the theatre.

The film impressed me in the first few frames itself. The interviewers ask the candidate his name and he says, “Deepak Kumar”. They then ask his ‘full’ name. For a few nano seconds I went back to my college days at Banaras Hindu University in the seventies. I had to face a similar situation there too. When getting ragged the seniors were not at all convinced when I spelt out my name as ‘Uday Shankar’. Uday Shankar kyaa? Tera poora naam kya hai? (Is it just Uday Shankar? What is your full name? ). For a person going out of Tamilnadu, where the suffixes on names were knocked off as part of the most successful social revolution post-independence India has seen, I was intrigued at the first place. Jaise naam ke saat Tiwari, Choudary, Sen, Bhattacharya jodthen hain, thum logon ke naam ke saat kuch nahi hai kyaa? (Just as we have Tiwari, Choudary, Sen, Bhattacharya as suffixes for names, you guys do not have any suffixes?) During my four year stint in the university I had never taken the extra mile to explain the social revolution that took place in Tamilnadu for the simple reason that, as years rolled on, I started to understand the local social nuances better and was astonished how feudal the UP society was with casteism deeply engrained in the psyche.

Saif has done full justice to his role. Hats of the costume designer for choosing the apt dresses and the dialogue writer for chiseling the right nuances into Deepak’s dialogue- straight, simplistic but hard hitting. The Hindi in the whole film is of good quality. No wonder Koel of CNN IBN made a frank comment about the Hindi on 12th August and said that ‘the Hindi in the film was far beyond her comprehension’. I was just wondering why then she was reviewing the film at all. I enjoyed every bit of all the dialogues. Hats off to Jha for paying attention on the language of the film.

The way the poor Brahmin student sticks on religiously to his chaste Hindi, come what may, like most others of his ilk in the country could be looked at from two angles. The casteist moorings of the boy and the deeply embedded psyche would be preventing him from talking the language, the masses understand. He may think, ‘why should I change?’ He may be right from a birth right point of view. But then ‘why not?’ is the other thinking. I often used to wonder about the ability of people whose mother tongue used to be Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and had settled in Tamilnadu for generations and the way they speak Tamil fluently. They may switch over to their tongue when with their ilk but when they talk Tamil, it is the Tamil which everyone speaks. That is not the case with the elite in the society. They deliberately desist from talking the language of the masses and blurt out their language even in the midst of a predominantly Tamil speaking crowd. This is not the case only in Tamilnadu but also in Karnataka. When working in Syndicate Bank and operating in Dakshina Kannada district, I had to move with Tulu speaking farmers. I picked up their lingo fast and one day when I was talking to my friend in the bank he wanted to test my Tulu speaking skill and asked me “Unus Aandda?” (Did you have food?). I replied, “Daala borchi” (Yes, I am through)) on which he immediately accosted me and said that it was the Tulu the lower caste people spoke and corrected me, “Daala Bothri” (Yes, I am through- the Brahmin version !). I was dazed and bewildered at the same time. ‘What difference does it make as long as I can communicate? Why this fetish for a so called refined language?’ I thought. Is it a ploy to identify their ilk in a crowd? Desmond Morris would have been the right person in such a situation to throw light on what he calls ‘the tribal behaviour of people’.

Amitabh Bachan’s role as a sincere educationist who is above all parochial behaviours and political decisions reminded me of my teachers those days. We did really have such good teachers. In fact, the character Prabhakar Anand is the cynosure of the whole movie. The selfless and secular approach of a true teacher may sound idealistic but then Jha has very nicely scripted the story to show how a true teacher has to be. After the first few frames, every other frame gave me a chance to relate it with my father who would fit in the role played by Bachanji. He was a rare breed from Tamilnadu. He had during the freedom struggle days learnt Hindi on his own and went on to do self study of Hindi at the bachelors as well as the post graduate levels and was employed by the Government of India as a Pradhayapak for central government employees. He was a very sincere teacher and had all the traits of Prabhakar Anand in the movie. He was also a strong antagonist of commercializing education- the central theme of the film. For Bachanji this film will remind him of his father too. I still remember how my father used to recite lines from Madhushala, Harvansh Rai Bachan’s magnum opus.

The film revolves around the family of Prabhakar most of the time. The reservation issue is only a spark that lights of a series of activities in the film which eventually fades into oblivion bringing in the issue of commercialization of education as the main theme for the rest of the movie. The film is caste-neutral and does not take any sides. All that it tries to send is a message that education should not become a money making commodity and that students of all caste, creed and religion have the right to get educated. The reservation issue also flares up an unwarranted rift between lovers Poorbi Anand and Deepak, between friends Sushanth, Poorbi Anand and Deepak, between Prabhakar and his protegee Deepak, the bright Dalit student. You feel bad when these bonds break and Prakash Jha keeps you wondering how all the mess is going to be set right. With this movie Jha has come a full round as a successful story teller based on contemporary issues. I saw Rajneeti and liked it too.

It was nice to see Tanwi Azmi as Prabhakar’s wife. It was a treat to see her back in such a good role. Deepika as Poorbi has also done well. She really does well in the situation where she questions her father and moves out. The most touching scene was of course the one in which she comes back and Prabhakar serves her favourite dish. I broke into tears as I have a daughter of that age. A lady next to me too broke into tears. On the whole the people around me seemed to enjoy the movie.

I also had the chance to watch the core team on TV in discussion with Rahul on Headlines Today. I was amazed by the home work Jha had done and the way he answered. It only showed the depth of interest he has in the theme of his films. I am happy that the AP government has cleared the movie for screening today. I hope that the two other state governments UP and Punjab too will follow suit immediately.

To conclude, we need more films of social themes in our country. Praksah Jha are you listening?

P.Uday Shankar

Coimbatore

13th Aug 2011.



Monday, April 11, 2011

If Mahatma Gandhi was alive and was an Indian Politician

I was always of the strong view that Indian politics would never have been in this state of affairs if Mahatma Gandhi would have been alive today. We would have been the real example of democracy for new nations getting into democracy. For some time after we won independence, say for about two decades, we did have politicians of pristine qualities like Lal Bahadur Shastri, Kamaraj, C. Subramaniam, who had followed Gandhian principles in politics. Today there is so much of money in politics that it has become a lucrative career. Lal Bahadur, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Kamaraj were in politics to serve the people and not to make money.

Thanks to Anna Hazare we have today an awakening in India on corruption. It is however unfortunate that when the heat on anti-corruption is just picking up we have this nasty comment from Kumaraswamy a politician from Karnataka. I heard it first on TV and then went to CNN-IBN's website to get this information:

"

CNN-IBN
Updated Apr 11, 2011 at 03:09pm IST

New Delhi: Janata Dal (Secular) Karnataka unit President and former state chief minister HD Kumaraswamy has kicked up a row by saying that the corruption rot runs so deep in India that even Mahatma Gandhi would have been corrupt if he had practiced politics in today's times.
"Today, politics and corruption are synonymous. If someone in politics says he is not corrupt, he must be lying. If Mahatma Gandhi was alive today, he would have had only two options: either stay in politics by becoming corrupt or to get out of politics and remain clean. It would take a greater movement than the country's Independence movement to stamp out corruption," Kumaraswamy told 'Bangalore Mirror'.
But Kumaraswamy's comments have not gone down well with Anna Hazare and his political opponents.

"If the leaders of our country are talking like this, then corruption can never be wiped out of the country," said Hazare, whose four-day long hunger strike in New Delhi for a stronger anti-corruption law forced the Government to form a commitee to re-draft the Lokpal Bill.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), too, slammed Kumaraswamy for his statement on Gandhiji

"What better can you expect from Mr Kumaraswamy? What is more important is that when we do politics for the country we need corrective measures. The entire country is suffering because of corruption and scams," said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Congress declined to comment on the issue saying that Gandhiji was too big an institution.

"We will not comment on one-liners passed in public life. Gandhiji is too big an institution. He has given us the way to good life and I hope all of us could walk in that direction," said Congress MP and Water Resources Minister Salman Khurshid."


It is sad to hear such statements. This only shows how dirty the situation is in Indian politics. My message to such the tainted politicians and corrupt bureaucrats is that the game is over. Indians have woken up. We need to cleanse the system immediately. The rot has set in deep but we cannot wait any longer. My children and your children are frustrated too. Their future has to be good and we are the ones who should show the way. Let this fight against corruption create another history for a successful Gandhian Movement.

P.Uday Shankar


Thursday, March 31, 2011

India Census 2011

The results of the India Census 2011 are just out this afternoon.

The Ministry of Home Affairs and the whole team at the Registrar General’s Office have to be commended for the swiftness in completion of the job. It looks like as if the enumerator had visited me only a few weeks back and presto here are the results. As a responsible citizen it is also my duty to congratulate the thousands who had walked from door to door to do the enumeration work and the back-office staff for the speed in collation of the data. It is always easy to say that we are in a world where technology comes in handy for such great works but we should not forget the men and women behind such monumental works.

The great Tamil poet Bharathiar’s poems remind us of a 30 crore population during the freedom struggle. My God where is 30 crores and where are we now- 121 crores. The first Census in 1951 after Independence shows a population of 36. 11 crores. From 36.11 crores in 1951, 43.92 in 1961, 54.82 crores in 1971, 68.33 crores in 1981, 84.64 crores in 1991, 102.87 crores in 2001- we have now come to 121,01,93,422 today.

Uttar Pradesh remains to be the most populous state. It had a population of 6.03 crores and now has a population of 19.96 crores. My state Tamilnadu had a population of 3.01 crores in 1951 and today we have 7.21 crores. You can compare the growth rate of these two states.

The highlights of the census show that child sex ratio in 2011 is 914 female against 1,000 male - the lowest since Independence. Literacy has gained over the years and we now have 74% of the population (age seven and above) as literates and the remaining 26% illiterates.

For a detailed information on the highlights please visit the following sites:

1) http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/census-2011-indian-population-increased-by-181-million-95387

2) http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1587153.ece

It feels nice when I think that I am one among 121 crores (1.21 billion) of people. It is now time to prove the world that we are not a big country but a great country. We have a lot of work to do to achieve that greatness. If each one of us puts his/her best for the country we would be soon the greatest. A big country of great people.

P.Uday Shankar.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Curry Leaves of Microfinance


The Curry Leaf is a very important ingredient of South Indian cuisine so much so that some preparations bereft of Curry leaves are just not relished. Though the Curry Leaf is so important it is picked from the food and thrown away after cooking, ensuring that the essence of the leaves has been fully extracted. This method of discarding the most important ingredient after it is cooked has been idiomatically used in South Indian vernacular. If some one is shown the door after his "essence" has been fully used by an organisation we relate it to the Curry Leaf Syndrome. With the advent of the globalisation and the entry of the so called corporate culture this Syndrome has come to stay. The Curry Leaf Syndrome had its toll in Microfinance too. Institutions which were planning to move fast from a social mode to the new bandwagon had to pave way for 'new blood' to be infused and had to cull out people of the old school of thought and fill the gap with aspirants from the corporate world. It is today happening to Prof Yunus and the whole Microfinance fraternity (except those who were waiting in the wings for his exit) is shell shocked.

It happened to many others too in the sector during the transition from the social microfinance to commercial microfinance. Today this is noticed because Prof Yunus is known internationally and a recipient of the coveted Nobel prize. It is sad to know that the Government and the judiciary in Bangladesh has failed to see what the Professor has gifted to the world. On the 7th March, on the eve of the International Women's Day I was pleased to see the following statement from the Microcredit Summit Campaign:
"WASHINGTON, DC - More than 128 million of the world's poorest families received a microloan in 2009--an all-time high, according to a report released today by the Microcredit Summit Campaign. Assuming an average of five persons per family, this means that loans to 128 million poorest clients affected some 641 million family members, which is greater than the combined population of the European Union and Russia. Microloans are used to help people living in poverty start or expand a range of small businesses, such as selling basic staples, producing handicrafts, and delivering cell phone services to remote villages."

For more information please visit: http://www.microcreditsummit.org/news

This could not have been possible without the path breaking experiment of Prof. Yunus. I am a great admirer of the professor and was expecting him to get the Nobel in 1995 itself for Economics. Nevertheless, I was gung-ho when he received the Nobel for Peace in 2006. I still remember the day when it was announced and I had a call from a correspondent from BBC Radio's Tamil Service asking my opinion. It was a short interview but reached as far as Sri Lanka from where I received appreciation.

I have a gut feeling that the establishment in Bangladesh has been watching the Egypt Crisis too closely and having seen the emergence of leaders like Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of IAEA, it has got into a fear psychosis seeing a potential leader in the making in Bangladesh. The recent happenings in Bangladesh are indicative of such a move against a person who is now a global figure. I wish the professor all the strength and resilience to face the crisis and come out successful.

P.Uday Shankar

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

From loose fitting half-trousers to flying a Piper Cub

12-07/10


Having born in a Military Hospital (1955) in Aravankadu, a small town on the way to Ooty, and brought up in an army environment, the olive green shade got stuck in my memory once for all. The tapping of the boots and shrieking commands still reverberate in my ears. My grand-mother was a long time employee of the Cordite Factory in Aravankadu and my father was a Hindi Teacher in the factory high school. We lived inside the sprawling premises of the factory in the then newly built Kal Quarters (granite houses). The screeching periodical sirens of the factory were typical of an army environment measurable in decibels. The olive green Jeeps and Shaktimans are now part of my much cherished childhood memories. The occasional wailing sirens indicating accidents inside the factory and speeding Shaktiman ambulances with the Red Cross painted inside huge white circles on the top and sides of the canopy were a part of my childhood nightmares.

When my father moved to Thiruvananthapuram (then known as Trivandrum), my olive green memories started waning away. Luckily for me during the last leg of our stay in that city (1965-66), I got a chance to join the Auxiliary Cadet Corps (ACC), the Junior Wing of NCC. I was extremely lucky to have been in the last batch of ACC as it was disbanded in the year 1967. The uniform was Khaki half trousers and shirt. As I was puny looking, the trousers and shirt were always fitting loose on my body. The beret was a woollen-felt soft round cap, with a flat crown and was supposed to be worn with one side sliding down. Of the five pieces I had worn, the trousers, shirt, stockings, loose fitting shoes and the beret, it was only the beret which fitted snugly around my head! There used to be a cap badge and a red woollen ball adorning the front side of the beret. I took lot of pride in wearing the uniform of a para-military wing at that age (ten years). Walking on the streets wearing the uniform I always felt that I was the cynosure of all gazing eyes on the street. The Khaki uniforms were always conspicuous on the streets.

Then when we moved on to Coimbatore in 1967, I joined the Junior Wing NCC-Air in Shri Baldevdas Kikani Vidyamandir. During the three years I excelled in Aero Modeling as I was good in carpentry (we had in those days a period every week for craft- carpentry). Among my seniors it was my friend Saravannan who motivated me a lot. He was a sterling example of a senior and fortunately for me we still continue our relationship to date. The uniform was of light blue shade (often called the air force blue). It was during that time that I learnt the techniques of polishing my shoes, belt and the brass appendages on the cap and belt. As we had very strict senior officers, every parade was as good as the ones I had seen in the parade grounds of Aravankadu. The only thing I hated was the switching over to English commands in Tamilnadu. Having got used to ‘Saawdhaan’ and ‘Vishram’ during my ACC days, the way ‘Attention’ and ‘Stand at Ease’ commands in English were bellowed at me, made me feel most of the time uncomfortable. “Am I part of an Indian para-military corps or am I part of a vestige British para-military corps?” I used to seriously contemplate. Unmindful of the linguistic imbroglio, I went on attending the aero-modeling sessions religiously, getting a pat on the back now and then from my instructors. The aero-modeling helped me thoroughly in understanding the basics of flight. Concepts like the parts of the aircraft, the aero dynamic shape of the wings and the fuselage, and also difficult concepts like thrust and lift were all clear in my mind every time when I sat to sand paper the fresh balsa wood.




As a cadet in the Junior NCC Air Wing while in Kikani High School, Coimbatore.


The first thing I did, when I joined Banaras Hindu University for my graduation in Agriculture in 1973, was to find out if they had a Senior Air Division NCC in my faculty. The sprawling university campus had its own Squadron within the campus! I paid a visit to the Squadron office just to find out how good the aero-modeling sessions were going on. To my surprise I found that it was one of the best Squadrons in the region. I also learnt that the university had its own airstrip with a flying club inside the campus and the Squadron was also using it to train its cadets. For me, the uniform was a sort of a freedom from wearing half trousers which were so wide at the bottom that they virtually acted as air coolers in summer! The full length trouser in air force blue was a grace to look at. Another freedom was from English to Hindi commands. For the first time I had a feel that the uniform sets fitted me snugly. I had a dhobi in the hostel for whom I did not have to give instructions to wash and press the uniform. He simply did it. The starch and the creases would remain till the end of every rigorous parade. I always got a pat for the best turn out. My only concern was my pair of spectacles. My hostel mates used to call me Netaji (after Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose) if I wore the uniform. A small solace for a bespectacled para-military enthusiast, I always thought so.

I was religiously present on every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon for the drills. As days passed on I took a special interest in aero-modeling again. Unlike my school days, I had a chance to make bigger models which could be flown with a wire attached to ones hands. On completion of my two years, the Squadron commandant Sqn. Leader Pradhan invited me to his office and expressed his appreciation of my aero-models and said that I should appear for an examination for selection of cadet trainees to fly an engine aircraft. I had sincerely never expected this as I had always known my setbacks of average height and my damned spectacles. The exam was rather easy for me but what came next was a nightmare. I was supposed to present myself for a thorough medical check up and the worst part was to get a letter of undertaking from the parents. The undertaking had lines about any possible death during the training and which parent would sign the dotted lines? I expected my father to reprimand me by asking whether he had sent me to BHU to study or fly aircrafts. But to my surprise he sent it signed and with my parents blessings! In the medical test I had surprisingly got through the eye test and it was no more a hurdle for me in getting selected for flight training! But then came the bolt from the blue. The medical report had measured my leg length as 109 cms and I was falling short of one cm! The leg length was important as the person flying the aircraft had to reach out to the rudder pedal comfortably. The medical report was to be sent to the the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) for clearance. Sqn. Ldr. Pradhan was furious seeing the report. I had my leg length measured again correctly and thank God I was now fit. After a few weeks came the good news that I was one of the cadets selected for flight training. The trainings were in the early mornings and they clashed with my lab/classes in the morning. Though attendance was not a problem, I personally had to cope up with lot of back log of studies.

On the first day of my training I was asked to report at 6.30 am at the airstrip. The flying club had one Piper Cub and there were many other local trainees who were paying on their own for the training. When my turn came the instructor asked me if had any air experience earlier. The answer was an obvious ‘No, Sir’. “In that case do you have a fear of heights?” he asked. It would not have taken much time to tell him that I am from the hills of Nilgiris but that would prove to be too audacious and I controlled my excitement and said again, “No, Sir”. “In that case jump in and let’s go for a ride” he said. I had come with a list of pre-flight checks to be done before getting into the aircraft. He did them all himself and told me to keep the check ups for the next day.




Picture of a Piper Cub aircraft.


I took the rear seat and he was on the front. I strapped on the seat belts. I felt great just sitting there. Something which I had never dreamt of was happening to me that day. For the time being I threw away the guilt of missing the classes and concentrated on the dash board. I could see an altimeter, air pressure gauge, air speed meter, tachometer and the liquid compass. The instructor asked me to not bother about anything and comforted me to just sit and relax. He taxied the aircraft to the end of the airstrip. I noticed the windsock and identified the direction of the wind. Once positioned, he gave full throttle, a nice take off and soon we were air borne. I peeped outside and saw the whole sprawling BHU campus in one go and next I was able to see the Ganges. By the time we crossed 2250 ft the instructor slowly turned and gave a deep look at me. The look was quite obvious. It was to test if I was comfortable and not feeling uneasy. “What are we doing now?” he shouted at me over the sound of the engine. “We are now on a straight and level flight, Sir” I said, thinking that he would turn around again to appreciate my prompt answer. Instead, he pushed his joy stick forward and suddenly the aircraft dived down loosing height steadily. He turned back and gave a naughty look. “How do you feel?” he asked. “Fine, Sir” I said in the affirmative gulping the spit down my throat. After a sortie or two he then turned the aircraft towards the airstrip and prepared for the landing. The landing was smooth. He then taxied the aircraft to the apron. As I jumped out he again watched me closely to find out if everything was fine. He asked me to go with him till the office entrance and asked me to stand in the front till he completed his work inside. I stood there for ten full minutes. He then came and asked me if I was feeling fine. “Yes, Sir”, I beamed with a small smile of gratification. “Report for training tomorrow at 6.30 am sharp” he said and dismissed me for the day. It was one of the happiest days in my life. I also thanked within my heart the Sqn.Ldr. who recognised my earnest efforts and provided me that opportunity and of course, my parents who permitted me to learn flying. As I left the apron I again gazed at the Piper Cub with a sense of having achieved a chance to move from table top airplane models to something real!


Side view of a Piper Cub aircraft.

(Have a look at the twin seats. Also take a look at the tiny rear wheel !)


The Piper Cub is a cute little aircraft mostly found in flying clubs and used for training pilots. Lets see what the Wikipedia has to say about the Piper. “The Piper J-3 Cub is a small, simple, light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. With tandem (fore and aft) seating, it was intended for flight training but became one of the most popular and best-known light aircraft of all time. The Cub's simplicity, affordability and popularity invoke comparisons to the Ford Model T automobile. The aircraft's standard yellow paint has come to be known as “Cub Yellow” or "Lock Haven Yellow".

The next day I was there on the dot. Though I had gone through all the regular pre-flight check ups to be done, the instructor had his own way. I stood in front of the aircraft. He first asked me to check the propellers for any cracks or dents. I was also asked to check for any loose bolts. He then asked me to go around the plane and feel the belly and the fuselage fabric for any possible wear and tear. Next were the wing strut attachments, landing gear attachments, brake disc functionality, and had to look out for the right level of inflation of the tyres. Further one had to check out for any possible leak of hydraulic fluid, check if the ailerons were free and the condition of the cables. Then came the hind part- the tail. One had to check if the rudder was alright by moving it slowly. The tail wheel had to be checked for its sturdiness. I was always surprised by the size of the tail wheel. Then came the check up for oil leaks, fuel leaks, if cowling pins were in tact, fuel level etc. Being the first time he asked me to go around once again and ensure that nothing has been left out. Once the pre-flight checking procedure was over outside, I was asked to take the hind seat or the aft seat. Once inside I had to again continue the pre-flight check ups like the rudder pedals, aileron movements, reading the dash board instruments... Then I had to check out for the wind direction looking at the windsock on the side of the air strip. In the days that followed I these check ups became a routine.



The dash board of the Piper Cub.

(From left- Airspeed meter, Tachometer, Liquid Compass, Altimeter, Oil Temperature & Pressure Gauge.)

In a few days I was able to smoothly taxi the aircraft and could take off almost smoothly. Landing remained always a problem for me. I had to first learn the art of stalling the aircraft by pulling the joystick back to push the nose of the craft up in order to cut airspeed. This exercise had to be mastered if one had to learn landing properly. By the time I had logged about 30 hours of flight training the confidence level was high for the next step- solo. To do this I had to spend over two months sacrificing my morning lab sessions. The back log was mounting day by day. After introspection, I quit the flight training. It was a sad day for me and the Sqn. Ldr.. He coaxed me to continue the training till I could try out a cross-country flight to Allahabad and back and then obtain my Commercial Piloting Licence. But that seemed like a far cry for me at that stage.


At BHU air strip with NCC cadets after 28 years.

(A wing of a glider partly visible in the hangar.)


After about 28 years I had a chance to visit Varanasi again in 2006. I took some time and went down the road of nostalgia. Surprisingly, the city Varanasi and BHU had not changed much and for me it was like getting into a time machine back to 1977! I made it a point to visit the air strip. I could see a glider and an aircraft in the hanger. There were a couple of Air Wing NCC cadets on the spot. I spent some time talking to them and took a snap sitting along with them. As I left the airstrip I looked out for the windsock. The wind was fast enough. “Many more lucky ones like me would soon be taking off”, I thought as I left the place. It was indeed a pretty long way from wearing loose fitting half trousers to flying a Piper Cub aircraft.


Today I consider being one among the most fortunate citizens of India who were in ALL THREE CORPS- ACC, NCC Junior Wing and NCC Senior Wing and were able to learn flying an aircraft.

P.Uday Shankar

My NCC details:
Cadet No: 80732/1969-71. Unit No: 2 (Tamilnadu) Air Squadron (Flying). Passed Junior Air Certificate II. Grade –C (50% to 64%).
Cadet No: UPSA/74/283271. Unit No 4 Uttar Pradesh Air Squadron (Flying). Passed Senior Air Certificate B. Grade B (65% to 79%).

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Reducing the Mahatma to an acronym

11-07/10
I was surprised to read the following news item in the Times of India dtd. 07 July 2010.


Green Dandi project to be launched today-
Times of India
Himanshu Kaushik, TNN, Jul 7, 2010, 01.28am IST.

AHMEDABAD: The Centre has embarked on yet another ambitious project to build a green memorial at Dandi to immortalise the salt march by Gandhi in 1930.

With an aim to rejuvenating Gandhi principles, a Rs 25-crore green project will be launched at Dandi on Wednesday to transform the area into an eco-friendly tourist destination.

Society of Integrated Coastal Management (SICOM), along with Gujarat Vidyapith and Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC), will implement the unique project aimed at overall development and conservation of the environment of Dandi and its surrounding villages.

To celebrate 75 years of the Dandi march, the UPA government had announced a project to develop the 376-km Ahmedabad-Dandi route into the 'Heritage Road and Corridor' in 2005, work for which is on. The Centre allocated Rs 10 crore as corpus fund for this project.

The green project for Dandi called Green Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative (GANDHI) will be executed by SICOM, an agency working under the Union ministry of environment and forests, in two years.

The project will be implemented by applying Gandhian principles for environment conservation and village development. Union minister of environment and forest Jairam Ramesh and Gopal Krishna Gandhi, chairman, Dandi Memorial Committee, will inaugurate it on Wednesday

E Balagurusamy, IFS, member secretary, GEC, said, "Various activities to be undertaken as part of the project include mangrove afforestation and bio-shield development, beach nourishment, conservation of coastal features and wetlands, harnessing and encouraging use of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, conservation of water, waste management, transformation of target villages into carbon neutral areas, improvement in source of livelihood among others" (Courtesy TOI).


My comment:


The project would sound like a lofty idea for anyone, as there is a lot of green concept involved in it. I am not delving deep into the project.

What irked me was the naming of the project as GANDHI (Green Action for National Dandi Heritage Initiative). I was just wondering how a teacher would be teaching this to his/her students. She would be treating the GANDHI as an acronym and would be compelled to ask the students questions like "What is GANDHI?". A diametric deviation from what should be asked as "Who is Gandhi?” This is what happens when you reduce a great person's name to a mere combination of pronounceable acronyms.

The Government that voiced its opinion against Mont Blanc for using the name Gandhi should have refrained from using the name GANDHI as an acronym for a Government project. A simple Mahatma Gandhi Green Action Project would have been a better way of naming the project. In a land of Gandhis it is always important to mention the the word "Mahatma" also with Gandhi to do away with any lingering confusion in gullible minds.

There is a strong case for scrapping the acronym.
I have also conveyed my resentment in a network Gandhi Topia.

Uday Shankar