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Inside CORBIS SOCIETY YOUNG MLAS 58 Private India Goes Public Politics is no longer a dirty word for young professionals who won the recent Assembly polls and promise development with a difference. COVER STORY BREAST IMPLANTS 18 34 Booby Trap SPECIAL REPORT THE KASKARS Mumbai s First Family of Crime Slum redevelopment. Rent collection. Loan recovery. Dawood Ibrahim s siblings control the Karachi-based don s expanding business interests in Mumbai, right under the noses of the police. Women want them perfect. Men want less flab. Breast surgery is the new rage. THE BIG STORY EDUCATION 28 State Kills The Classroom Upgrade Government schools to solve India s education woes. Penalties on private institutions isn t the answer. INVESTIGATION EMERALDS NATION HIMACHAL PRADESH 42 Are Your Jaipur Gems Fake? 40 Jaipur s reputed gem market suffers a trust deficit after resin-treated emeralds are passed off as natural. Land War in Himachal The state government and the Army lock horns over a piece of land near Shimla. 10 U P FR O N T 12 G L A S S H O U S E 70 G L O S S A R Y Cover photograph by: ATUL KASBEKAR/ COSMOPOLITAN 04 INDIA TODAY APRIL 30, 2012
BYWORD M.J. AKBAR THE GHALIB GUIDE TO POLITICS Who would you consider a better guide to contemporary politics: Chaudhry Birender Singh, general secretary of the Indian National Congress with charge of Delhi, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, or Mirza Asadullah Ghalib, Urdu-Persian poet-philosopher during the dusk of the Mughal Empire? The choice may not seem quite as obvious, on second glance. If you prefer the Chaudhry, you are clearly reasonable. The Mirza, however, might be a more illuminating guide during periods of great existential strain. Let us examine the available evidence. On April 17, the day Congress confirmed its general decline by losing the Delhi municipal elections, Chaudhry Birender Singh breezily explained, on television, that it was actually the voter s fault; the voter didn t know what he was doing. There were no elections in Ghalib s era, more than a century and a half ago, and he probably would not have voted if there had been, but he understood the craving for comfort in illusion. Witness his verse: Hum ko maloom hai jannat ki haqiqat lekin/ Dil to bahalane ko Ghalib yeh khayal achcha hai. A rough translation: I know the truth about heaven, but/ As amusement for the heart, the thought is pleasant, Ghalib. The Chaudhry knows the truth, but an alibi eases burdens in his soul. This is temporary relief. Politics is a practical art. It tends to punish illusion. It permits only a very thin margin between self-consolation and self-immolation. Any politician who believes that he lost an election because the voter was wrong has also lost the plot. No election is minor, for the voter s will is never insignificant, whether it shapes the micro or macro level of authority. The first signal from north India after Mrs Indira Gandhi s devastating defeat in 1977 that the mood had begun to change, came when her Congress won a local bodies election. Her Janata Party opponents loftily dismissed the result as a pimple. They forgot that a pimple is often the only manifestation of an internal cancer. The link between a corporation in Delhi and the sprawl of Uttar Pradesh is an epidemic of disaffection, caused by the double jeopardy of poor governance and political mismanagement. It is pushing Congress out of the only perch on which it is comfortable, power. Alibis were impotent in UP, and they will not be productive in Delhi either. The much-promoted excuse for UP was absence of party infrastructure. But it was at the very least the same infrastructure in 2009, when the Congress won 21 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the rough equivalent of a hundred Assembly constituencies. The network that brought out the vote in 2009 could not have collapsed by 2012, since Rahul Gandhi worked for three years on nourishing and spreading fertiliser on these grassroots. In these three years, the Congress vote dropped by over six percentage points. The party imploded because it had lost credibility. Voters judge claims against performance if you are in office. Rahul Gandhi monopolised the campaign in UP. Blame must therefore go where worship would have gone had the results been different. But the blame is not his alone. He was handicapped by the stench of corruption wafting around the Congress-led coalition in Delhi, and the rattling skeletons of broken promises. He was slapped in UP only because he offered himself as the face of his party. Congress would have got the same results, with or without his campaign. The story is not that Rahul Gandhi did not make a difference, but that he could not make a difference. This is a dangerous admission for an organisation that places a premium on dynasty; hence the need for alibis. There is a secondary need as well. Survival is not merely a physical fact. It requires a psychological bed. While half the Union Cabinet has the fixed grin of someone who has won a lottery, because it has, the SAURABH SINGH/www.indiatodayimages.com The link between a corporation in Delhi and the sprawl of Uttar Pradesh is an epidemic of disaffection, caused by the double jeopardy of poor governance and political mismanagement. It is pushing Congress out of the only perch on which it is comfortable, power. ministers of state in their Forties and Fifties have acquired a frown that is deepening into anxiety and depression. Eight years of plenty have slipped by without promotion; and the prospect of wilderness is bad for the morale of those who thought, in 2009, that they had been given a licence to rule for 20 years. If this group of energisers begins to look defeated even before the turmoil of the next General Election, the body count will be high during battle. It is important to reassure them that the problem lies in circumstance, which can be altered over time, and not in the leadership, which cannot. Victory is an intoxicant. Victory leads to a hangover, which best describes the state of the UPA 2 Government. Defeat is a teacher. But, to be an effective guide, it needs the prod of honesty. A Chaudhry may mollify the pain of defeat during a television stampede. But for the long run, trust Ghalib. APRIL 30, 2012 INDIA TODAY 70
GLASS HOUSE by KAVEREE BAMZAI PUTTING A BRAKE he minute Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav decided to switch to the humble Ambassador from the flashy Prado for official use, his party faithful praised his austerity. Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary issued a statement hailing Akhilesh as the leader of common people and calling Mayawati a spendthrift. That was until the embarrassing truth was discovered: That the six Prado SUVs in the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister s motorcade were bought by Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2006 when he was in office. The Prado costs Rs 28 lakh and the Ambassador is Rs 8 lakh. SAURABH SINGH/www.indiatodayimages.com T A.PRABHAKAR RAO/www.indiatodayimages.com HOME TUITION DHUMAL (LEFT) WITH RUDYAND THAKUR A ndhra Pradesh Panchayati Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy, 66, hopes to unseat N. Kiran Kumar Reddy as chief minister after elections to a Lok Sabha and 18 Assembly constituencies, likely to be held by midjune, where the Congress is expected to lose. He s already started preparations, taking English and Hindi lessons at home to converse with national leaders in his potential new role. Sadasiva Sharma, 53, a journalist, spends over an hour with him every morning when he is in Hyderabad, teaching him the nuances. The six-time MLA started out as a TDP activist before switching over to the Congress in 1988. Will he finally get lucky? DIFFERENT PITCH H e may not be scoring in the Uttar Pradesh battlefield but cricketerturned-mp Mohammed Azharuddin scored a century in a T20 match between Indian MPs and a team of visiting British MPs on April 13. The ON A SONG REDDY INDIA TODAY APRIL 30, 2012 ll it took was a jaadu ki jhappi from Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal to bring Punjab s best known Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans back to the Akali Dal. Dejected after losing the 2009 Lok Sabha election from Jalandhar as an Akali Dal nominee, he had relocated to Mumbai two years ago. Now, Sukhbir has brought him back to politics by appointing him vice-president and a member of A A.PRABHAKAR RAO/www.indiatodayimages.com 12 PTI match was organised by BJP MP Anurag Thakur at the stadium he has built in his hometown Dharamshala. While Thakur was the captain, other MPs who took the field included Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Kuldeep Bishnoi, Dushyant Singh and Kalikesh Singh Deo. The Indian team won, scoring 226, while the visitors could score only 170 for nine wickets. Now, Thakur plans to invite his neighbours in South Asia for what is emerging as the Indian Politicians League. the party s apex political affairs committee. What can I say? Sukhbirji hugged me and reminded me of the 3.85 lakh people who had voted for me, says the singer. Ah. Such harmony. HANS BADAL
CoverStory BREASTIMPLANTS WHAT S ON THE MENU Who s going under the knife and why MIDDLE CLASS MANIA The market for cosmetic surgery on breasts has expanded from socialites and film stars to anyone with money. WOMEN WANT MORE Women are increasingly opting for larger breasts. From the standard 275-325 cubic cm implants, they now demand 350-400 cubic cm. MEN WITH MOOBS Men are opting for breast surgery to remove moobs, or abnormal accumulation of fat on their chests. WEDDING TROUSSEAU It s the favourite surgery among 20-something unmarried young women, seen as an investment that would give them a competitive edge in the marriage market. SIZE ZERO TEENS Many teenagers go through massive weight loss and end up with empty breast sacs. They often need breast implants to get back a normal figure. MOMMY MAKEOVER Over a quarter of breast jobs is being driven by 30-plus women who have lost breast volume due to pregnancy and breast feeding. CORPORATE CLIMBERS Ambitious professionals are changing their breast size to suit the image they want to portray to move up the corporate ladder. DREAMSTIME 51,000 breast implant
BOOBY TRAP Women want them perfect. Men want less flab. Breast surgery is the new rage. By Damayanti Datta Woo hoo! It s Happy Cleavage Day. How should I celebrate? tweeted Poonam Pandey on March 30. She did not get explicit about what she actually did on the happy day coined by a lingerie brand. But the self-proclaimed 21- year-old, who shot to fame during the Cricket World Cup in 2011 by offering to run naked around Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to motivate Team India, celebrates her cleavage every day. She posts pictures of her formidable bust line on Twitter and flaunts her assets in YouTube videos. Although she trashes the rumours, social-networking busybodies are busy figuring out the mystery of her breasts: Did Poonam Pandey get a boob job done or not? Breast-watchers have found a new hobby: Tell real breasts from fake. On the 50th anniversary of breast implants, an Indian surgery secret is bursting out of the lingerie closet. The popularity of aesthetic surgery to enhance and reshape breasts is exploding in metro India, making it one of the top 10 countries globally. Cleavage is the new self-esteem. The market has expanded from socialites and film stars to upper and middle classes: Size-zero girls, wannabe brides, ambitious professionals to 40-something mothers. Despite a health scare over cancerous breast implants from France breaking out around the world this year, boob jobs are becoming something of a national pastime in India. Men have their own rationale. Doc, can you do something about my breasts? I am getting married next month. I don t want to stand in a dhoti with my breasts hanging out. The young man, a software professional in Bangalore, wants to remove his moobs (or male boobs). To Dr M.S. Venkatesh, surgeon and professor at Ramaiah Medical College, he is just another patient of gynaecomastia, where hormones, genes, and sedentary life lead to abnormal accumulation of fat on male chests. The doctor cut out his breasts through a small incision below surgeries were done in India in 2010-11, out of 1.5 million across the world.