Why Boycott When We Can Fight Back?

“Please boycott Chinese goods permanently as China has voted against India in United Nations on the question of terrorism & has supported Pakistan openly. I am going to do it in national interest. You may also join in. Your small step will become movement.” 

This message has been doing the rounds of social media. But I am not in favour of such actions, as this will not be very effective (most of the people sent this message from their Chinese made smart phones!) & also alert the Chinese to our intentions. We should play it smart. I believe in a mix of soft & hard measures, some of which are outlined below:

Cultural Warfare

Earliest Chinese exports to the west were the martial arts movies. While they had Kung Fu & Karate, we have our own Yoga & Malkhamb. Yes, Yoga is popular globally, but we have not really promoted it by way of films nor do we have created icons like Bruce Lee. Imagine, yogis doing all sorts of tricks & acrobatics on screen. This would make the west go crazy & get India the respect it truly deserves. In a movie featuring Baba Ramdev v/s. Jackie Chan, who is your pick? Once this happens we should gradually let off other weapons from our arsenal, such as Ayurveda.

Cricket Diplomacy

During 70’s & 80’s, China had perfected the art of Ping Pong diplomacy; we should now get going with our own version Cricket Diplomacy. It helps that most of our neighbours, being wooed by China, play cricket. What do we do currently? Defeat Bangladesh & Sri Lanka, while losing to New Zealand. Can't we lose matches/series to Bangladesh & Sri Lanka too, and give them some feel good moments? They would then long to invite India for cricket matches & win in front of home crowds. This would also stump the bookies & help make cricket cleaner. Of course, we should continue thrashing Pakistan in world cups, no diplomacy here.

IPL

IPL has been the most successful Indian invention after Zero. We should get Chinese play in IPL teams. Recall what Afridi said about being loved more in India than Pakistan? It was his way of being allowed to play in IPL! Make the Chinese cricketers stars of IPL & when they go back, they will be our advocates. They will also promote cricket in China & the Chinese will then end up spending days playing this sport at the cost of other productive activities.

Export Religion

The communist guru said, Religion is the opium of the masses. And we have the largest variety of religions, semi-religions & non religions. We should encourage our gurus & babas to venture out to China. Once the Chinese fall into the trap of religion, there will be a disproportionate fall in their productivity. Not to speak of other ills that religion brings in (superstition, hatred, violence, etc.). This will also deal a deadly blow to communism & communism-induced discipline in China. I suggest releasing MSG (Messenger of God) in China to test the waters there! Asaram Bapu can be unleashed next.

Promote Made in USA products

Years ago before liberalisation came in, a small town outside Mumbai supplied our major demand of American goods. Ulhasnagar still has the skills to export “Made in USA” (Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association) products to China, and “Made in China” products to rest of the world. Only, we need to revive the industry back to shape (isn’t Make in India, the new mantra?). Because once they hit the global market, the world will stop using Chinese products, while the local Chinese imitators would run out of business. Hit where it hurts, is my preferred style.

Achhe Din

No, this does not refer to what our PM promised. This is about the original messiah of Achhe Din, or shall we call him King of Good Times? Yes, we should send Vijay Mallya to China. Let him produce & sell his alcohol there, so that the Chinese are too hungover in the mornings to produce anything of substance. (For the stronger ones, there is also the Kingfisher Calendar!) And make him set up businesses in China with loans from Chinese banks. He will then be able to pay off his debts to Indian banks, leaving the Chinese banks with all those NPA's! Now you know what “killing two birds with one stone” means.

Dump the BRICS Bank

Simply walk out of BRICS Bank. With Russia in a hole & China going nowhere, this Chinese initiative for dominance of global finance will turn out to be a dud. They will then be left selling weapons to Pakistan & Africa, in a head-to-head competition with Americans & Europeans. And lose whatever Western goodwill they have earned in the last few decades.

Expel Dalai Lama

Now, this is very drastic & goes against the Indian ethos of "Atithi Devo Bhava". Hosting Dalai Lama has been one of the irritants to our relations with China. With him gone, the peaceniks in China will get that sliver of a chance to promote healthier relations with India. Not that, this will help. But Dalai Lama, who will most probably be granted asylum by a western nation, will be able to take his peaceful fight to a truly global stage. Dharamshala is too secluded a place for freedom struggle. The Israeli vacationers there are too obsessed with the Arabs to be of any help to Tibetan cause.

While, these are what I could think of immediately, you would also have great ideas yourself. Why don't you share those here?

Pictures courtesy:

Baba Ramdev (http://pyptinternationalyogaday.com/home.php)

Messenger of God (http://www.newsnation.in/article/66452-sequel-msg-the-messenger-god-on-maker.html)

Vijay Mallya (http://daily.bhaskar.com/news/CEL-liquor-babes-moolah-how-the-king-of-good-times-lived-it-up-4976372-PHO.html) 

#GiveItUp

Because this is the flavor of the season. But isn’t Mr. Modi going in for easy (may or may not really be effective) solutions cloaked in big-sounding slogans (but this is his forte)?

Why may this not succeed to the extent Mr. Narendra Modi (and the rest of us) want? LPG is a necessary item & people who give up subsidy will still consume it. This will not diminish the role/quantum of subsidy in urban/semi-urban residential cooking. Of course, the money gained on waived subsidies can be passed on to those who need it & the initiative needs to be lauded for this honourable intention. But the government would need to import more of LPG for this which may slightly (don’t have the necessary figures, so benefit of doubt goes to the govt.) dent the forex reserves. I am sure the govt. would have worked out the costs involved in setting up distribution infrastructure for this new market opening up. It would also have worked out the additional employment this would generate, as also the additional diesel (a subsidized commodity again) that would be consumed by this new channel & the adverse impact on environment (and health) by this oil going up in smoke. Putting aside all these costs & benefits, this is one of those measures that would return benefits over a long term. Which is, people would learn to pay for what they consume.

But can the PM take this #GiveItUp scheme to the next level? Good news, he can… and it shall ensure more benefits to all (except those giving it up). It’s the electricity, stupid. The electricity supplied to our homes is also subsidized. And the govt. can gain in many ways when the well-off #GiveItUp. The govt. can supply power to the under-served areas/segments & can divert the subsidy to these areas. Most of the electricity consumed by the privileged classes is for non-essentials (think air conditioners, gadgets, appliances or simply the lights & fans left switched on). If people start using these less, there will be surplus power in the network & government simply needs to supply this to areas suffering from load shedding (no additional infra required). Having electricity means people have a longer day for productive tasks, which may lead to higher income (daily wagers can stay back later) & higher literacy levels (children/adults can study during the nights), which would mean higher employability. The power discoms are really in doldrums & need all the cash they can mop up. While the demand for power may or may not go up, the power plants (owned by PSU’s) will at least get paid for the power they generate & supply to the discoms. And yes, unlike LPG cylinders, metered electricity cannot be diverted or sold in the black market!!

But power is one thing no one wants to give up easily – be it political power, administrative power or even the residential power (prove me wrong, folks). And asking someone (especially, a voter) to do so would be disastrous for a politician (especially one who promised #AchheDin). One needs more than a 56-inch chest to do so!

(Image credit: http://zeenews.india.com/news/videos/top-stories/people-should-give-up-lpg-subsidy-pm-narendra-modi_1568634.html)