| | | Good morning! | | | | One An emphasis on education and public health, state-sponsored welfarism, and economic opportunities. And a strong identity, distinct from the Hindi-Hindu identity the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed to cultivate in the heartland. This describes the model of the two Dravidian parties that have governed Tamil Nadu (from the time it was Madras state) for the past 56 years. Corruption hasn’t really been an issue in the state (except once, when the J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK lost, partly on an anti-corruption vote); nor has dynasty. And barring the decade between 1999 and 2009, for the past 32 years since 1991, alliances led by the two parties have swapped seats in the Lok Sabha (with the winner sweeping most of the seats). Both promise and performance, then, make Tamil Nadu a unique state.  Any analysis of the AIADMK’s decision to break-up with the BJP and exit the National Democratic Alliance has to be seen in this context. The BJP, whose state chief’s relationship with the AIADMK is only marginally better than his relationship with the DMK, has indicated (through its actions) that it is not averse to this arrangement. There may be two reasons for this. One, the BJP may think this will help the party grow in the state (more on this anon). Two, it is very likely that the AIADMK sans the BJP will likely do better in the elections than the alliance would have otherwise done — and given that the DMK is already part of INDIA, the AIADMK will have nowhere else to go but the NDA after the elections. But does the BJP have what it takes to grow in the state? Answering that will involve finding the answer to four subsidiary questions. One, will the BJP’s pitch of welfarism work in the state? Two, is there a substantial vote belonging to other backward classes (OBCs) waiting to be consolidated? Three, is there a larger Hindu vote ripe for consolidation? And four, does Narendra Modi’s appeal as a Prime Minister and a campaigner extend south of the Vindhyas? The BJP’s answers to these questions may differ significantly from the AIADMK’s. Or perhaps they may not, with a report by HT’s Smriti Kak Ramachandran suggesting that the party’s central leadership didn’t think it would come to this. | | Two Bengaluru has more people than it can support (it is the third most populous city in India, although official data still puts Kolkata ahead of it). Many of them own vehicles (around 13 million people own 11 million cars and two-wheelers). And its road network (by length, and also by density) is among the lowest in the country (10,000 km and 8.2 km per sq km, although the first number is likely to have increased by around 30-40%, and the second decreased by 15-20%). That’s the simple equation people have to keep in mind when they are trying to explain the city’s traffic woes, which were on display Wednesday afternoon, evening, and night. This is also a classic kitchen-sink problem - the kind of thing that can only be solved through a combination of measures, big and small - mandatory WFH three days a week for all tech companies and non-shop floor workers in manufacturing ones; a congestion tax; stringent carpooling rules; a ban on the use of private vehicles for school drops and pick-ups; removing encroachments and improving the quality of roads; and strengthening both technological and human resources involved in managing traffic. Apart from a lack of vision and the inability to think complex problems through on the part of the government, there’s a reason this will never happen – the little discomfort it will mean at the individual level. And Bengaluru isn’t alone when it comes to that. | | Three The Asian Games are on, and the best place to track them - even if I say so myself - is Hindustan Times. These Games are important because they will help many of India’s top sportspeople get a sense of just where they stand when it comes to their preparation and readiness for next year’s Olympics in Paris. By extension, it will also give all of us a glimpse into how we can expect India to do at next year’s Games after a fine showing in the Tokyo edition. In terms of what to follow, I’d especially recommend the special graphics our team has been putting out – for the duration of the Asian Games, this will be on Page 2 (and it can be found in the infographics bar on the App, which is perhaps the finest way to digitally keep track of the HT newsroom’s work). This past week, we have had one on young sportspeople; the elite club of Indian shooters in the Games; an explanation of Dressage (where India won a gold); the disciplines unique to the Asian Games (among big sporting events); and India’s efforts to get up to speed in new-age sports (such as esports). There will be more before these Games end, so do keep track. | | Four Last week took us a bit closer to answering a question humankind has wrestled with for centuries: Are we alone in this universe? As my colleague Kabir Firaque - do check out his weekly puzzles column, Problematics – wrote “… we still don’t know … but the hunt has picked up since the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope in 2021.” Recent data captured by the telescope has revealed the presence of “carbon dioxide and methane, both strong indications of life” on a planet K2-18b, an exoplanet 120 light years from Earth. Kabir points out that two other factors make K2-18b “an exciting candidate”. One is the fact that it is possibly a Hycean world (and for more on this, I suggest you read the piece). The other, is the presence in its atmosphere of a chemical “strongly associated with life”. | | Five Two contemporary bands have new albums out. The National released Laugh Track on September 18, months after they released their last album The First Two Pages of Frankenstein. That had its moments (although I found it the weakest National album till then). In Laugh Track, the band redeem themselves, but only just, and much of the credit for that should go to the last song, Smoke Detector, in which The National sound like the rock band they promised to be in High Violet (perhaps their best album to date). Then, on Friday this week, Wilco, arguably the best contemporary rock band in the US, released Cousin, just around a year-and-a-bit after they did their last album Cruel Country. I liked Cruel Country which isn’t surprising because I love Americana, but Cousin is something else. Parts of it have punk’s energy. Others have prog-rock’s novelty and experimentation. It’s still not enough to make Cousin another Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (Wilco’s best album ever), but comparing the two new releases Wilco do seem to have managed to exit the rut of sameness that was beginning to affect their music a lot better than The National. | | | | Were you forwarded this email? Did you stumble upon it online? Sign up here. | | | | | | Get the Hindustan Times app and read premium stories | | | | | | View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Contact us You received this email because you signed up for HT Newsletters or because it is included in your subscription. Copyright © HT Digital Streams. All Rights Reserved | | | | |
