Open Letter to Mr Bachan

Dear Mr Bachan

You have every right to endorse any brand. It is perfectly legal and nothing should stop you.

Smoking cigarettes is perfectly legal. You cannot however deny that cigarettes are a cancerous idea. Your endorsement of Gujarat Tourism’s brand falls into this category. You did after all accept the offer at Mr Modi's invitation.

Corporate India will not be able to thank you enough. The corporate world has been looking for somebody who can help them move to Gujarat without having to be embarrassed or apologetic about dealing with Mr. Modi. You made it look like the right thing to do.

The timing is equally bad. Just as the law is catching up with Mr. Modi, you start making Mr.Modi look like a victim rather than the accused, You have the media batting for you as well. You managed to begin the process of changing the general perception about Mr. Modi. He, more than most, needs as much help as he can get in managing his image.

You have done nothing wrong as far as this episode is concerned. This is not about right or wrong. This is about the shades of grey between the two. That said, you will be judged by the company you keep. Some people will applaud you for keeping such company and some people will not approve (me). At the end of the day it is a choice that you will have to make. Whether you like it or not, choices that you make publicly do influence others.

I disagree not just with the choice but your vehement defence of the choice.

Narayanathe NaMo NaMo (Not in praise of Gujarat)

If listening to M S Subbulakshmi tapes was a part of your childhood then you are probably familiar with Annamacharya and/or his composition Narayanathe NaMo NaMo.

The phrase Narayanathe NaMo NaMo immediately came to mind when I heard that Gujarat's infamous NaMo (Narendra Modi) was inviting a Narayana i.e N.R.Narayana Murthy of INFY fame to advise the Gujarat Government on their recent electoral reform initiative to make voting compulsory. [Image from Indian Express]

I do not know if Mr. Murthy has accepted the offer or not... but both Mr. Murthy and NaMo were sharing the same dais when NaMo made the job offer. To be honest, I doubt if he will accept this specific offer. He will bide his time for something more grandiose than "advisor". That said, , if you can share a dais with the man who authored the Gujarat riots, you will not find it difficult to accept a job offer from the same man.

Mr Murthy's ex-colleague from Infosys is working with the UPA government on the UID scheme. It would make business sense for INFY to spread their bets between the NDA and UPA. Industry captains, have endorsed NaMo's genocidal credentials for Prime Ministership. Examples -

• Ratan Tata says Narendra Modi manages and Administers his state effeciently.
  
• Anil Ambani and Sunil Bharthi Mittal both think he should be running the country.
  

NaMo's exploits in the form of pogroms against muslims do not seem to trouble the conscience of these industry captains. [For more on Gujarat you can read this piece by Harsh Mander.]

Mr Murthy is not the only person working on a job offer from NaMo. It looks like Mr Amitabh Bachan, while promoting his film Paa to NaMo also offered to be a Brand Ambassador for Gujarat. I guess there is no harm in endorsing the NaMo's pogroms between his endorsements for Pepsi, ICICI, Parker pens, Nerolac paints, Reid & Taylor suits, and Dabur.

Mr Murthy is not media shy. He is an independent director in NDTV. Omkar Goswami, a well know journalist in India is an Independent Director in Infosys. There is no doubt that he will have some big names in the media batting for him whenever required.

It is a matter of time before Mr. Murthy makes a foray into respectable politics. Respectable politics is not the kind of politics that requires you to contest an election and win a democratic mandate. It is the kind of politics that allows you to use your media and industry connections to lobby for a constitutional office. It's about taking the concept of capitalism and converting it into crony capitalism. I hope I am wrong about Mr Murthy's goals.