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By:

Shoma A. Chatterji

21 August 2024 at 4:19:40 pm

The Battle Behind Ram

Did Ram or the epic Ramayana really exist? Or is it a fictional creation reportedly authored by Rishi Valmiki? In fact, there is no scientific or historical truth in the existence of Rishi Valmiki himself. Evolution has taken such long steps in our lives, that any question raised about the authenticity of the very existence of Ramayana has become redundant as we have accepted the Ramayana to be the ideal, indisputable truth unfolded through the eternal battle between fact and fiction, between...

The Battle Behind Ram

Did Ram or the epic Ramayana really exist? Or is it a fictional creation reportedly authored by Rishi Valmiki? In fact, there is no scientific or historical truth in the existence of Rishi Valmiki himself. Evolution has taken such long steps in our lives, that any question raised about the authenticity of the very existence of Ramayana has become redundant as we have accepted the Ramayana to be the ideal, indisputable truth unfolded through the eternal battle between fact and fiction, between the real and the imaginary and between the good and the evil. Aniruddha Sarkar has directed, given the music and done the complete play named Ram Ki Ladai under the Rangabhoomi banner. He is the recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2024. His directorial production Chandaa Bedni received national recognition at the Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META), winning four awards. The play opens with preparations afoot on a play-within-the-play named Ram Ki Ladai to be staged somewhere in the Hindi belt. Ramgoolam, an ordinary young man, is chosen to play the role of Ram which angers most of the other members of the cast because Ramgoolam belongs to a low caste so these others feel how a low caste, ordinary guy can or should play Ram. The play is authored by Lakshmi Narayan Lal and was first staged way back in 1978. It is a musical spilling over with dehati songs, beautiful dances and acting all of which are so staggeringly satiric that it invests this musical with a soul and spirit of its own. Aniruddha Sarkar has trained the twenty actors present on the proscenium for two hours for around 60 to 65 days. The languages and dialects used in the dialogue are in Hindi, Awadhi and Braj some of which are a bit tough for the city-bred audience to follow but this is more than compensated by the action, the songs and the story the play narrates. The plot of the play-within-the-play remains confined to the performance of Ram’s Dhanurbhanga which marks the momentous event where Lord Rama wins the hand of Goddess Sita in marriage during her Swayamvara (a ceremony to choose a husband) organized by her father, King Janaka of Mithila. The gigantic bow and arrow define a major character in the play-within-the-play though Ramgoolam is quite nervous of facing the wrath of the upper-caste members of the cast. But Sita’s father soothes his fears by repeating that he will give his daughter’s hand only to the one who can lift the very heavy bow and hit the target. The very heavy bow-and-arrow is also an irony pointing a sarcastic finger at the caste and “Aryan blood” question. The play is a metaphorical entity in which Ram is a metaphor for goodness, honesty and positive values. This is actually given as lines to a character who says, “Anyone can be Ram”, a telling comment on the wrong and artificial ‘marriage’ of religion and politics in the current Indian environment we are living in. Ram, in other words, is brought out of his mythological reality to step into the real world and demonstrate his honesty, his courage and his determination not necessarily with a caste-tag or a royal birth attached. This is the underlying and overlying statement of the play. Through soul-stirring music, humour, sharp satire, moving emotion, and striking symbolism, the play exposes the contradictions, inequalities, and moral dilemmas that surround us every day. It asks a compelling question - Can the ideals of Ram survive in the world we live in today? The dialogues are filled with biting satire and pungent lines. Sita is somewhat marginalized in the play as her role in limited to choosing to marry only that man who is able to strike the arrow to the given target and is strongly backed by her father in this choice. But we see her decked up like a bride, coy and shy and already in love with Ram. The play closes with Ram achieving the impossible and winning Sita’s hand. The many songs and the beautiful dances sometimes, within the rehearsal itself, make Ram Ki Ladai an experience to take home with you and remain haunted by it long after the play is over. The dance numbers, choreographed by Rudra Prasad Roy are an ideal blend of rhythm, symmetry, orchestration and performance. (The writer is a noted film scholar and theater critic.)

Indian Shipbuilding A Must Win Marathon

Writer: Capt. Naveen S Singhal
Capt. Naveen S Singhal
Dec 5, 2024
4 min read
Shipbuilding

With a coastline of 7500 KM, it is hard to imagine, that for the first 20 years (1947-1967) India had no ‘shipping ministry’. In 1967 a Shipping ministry “coupled” with ROAD transport was established. Since then, this ministry has been on a name changing ride, not once, not twice but six times. In 2009 the “ROAD Transport and Highways” was de-coupled and ‘Shipping’ ministry was formed. Turning point came in 2015 with a clear maritime vision for 2030 and 2047. Ministry was re-christened, aptly to Ministry of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” in 2020.


Why is Shipbuilding important for a country?

a. A Shipyard becomes an opportunity hub and like a queen bee requires the support of an industrial colony to manufacture machinery and equipment.

b. National Shipyards support fleet renewal needs of the Navy.

c. Contributes to national GDP, increases inflow of FOREX.


Korea shipbuilding is 8% of GDP. Japan’s automobile industry is 2.9% of GDP. India’s shipbuilding a meagre 0.000578% of GDP. In context, India’s pharmaceutical industry, ranked third largest in the world is 1.72% of India’s GDP.


International Shipbuilding Market

The market is estimated to reach around USD 200 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.84%. While India is at bottom with 0.07% of world share, behind Philippines 1.5% and Vietnam 1%, however on the positive side, India has done well in taking care of its defence needs, with 37 of 39 Naval ships being built in India yards. Rear Admiral S Shrikhande researching on maritime as a Fellow at Wollongong University, Australia, says “Shipbuilding in India needs both, serious incentivisation and dogged determination and not harping on being a big ship breaking country. That Garden Reach shipyard has a $54 million order for merchant ships from a German owner, is a good sign.”


Were Shipyards of 20th century in Flight mode?

Prominent shipyards in India were built in the colonial period. Mazagon Dock 1774, Garden reach 1884, Hindustan shipyard 1941 to cater to British navy and merchant fleet needs. Cochin shipyard 1972, Adani Katupalli 2013, Reliance Naval and Engineering, Rajula Gujarat 1997 and others have limited capacity, hence a lot more work to do. Capt. Subhangshu Dutt (Singapore) a mariner and now a shipowner, says “GOI should hold hands in any collaboration till the marriage with the foreign entity is reasonably stable. He also suggests that “new shipbuilding sites should be given to existing successful shipyards since they have decades of experience and talent. Consortium of 3 or more parties may also be good idea”.


Shipbuilding GOLD

As per SPLASH report the demand for LCO2 carriers could reach 2,500 ships by 2050. As per other estimates, 40% of global fleet of ships could have wind propulsion by 2050. A surge in such vessels is due to an unparallel waves of decarbonization in the shipping industry. Demand for ships with ‘carbon neutral’ badges, such as Dual fuel, Wind assisted, Nuclear fuel ships, Hydrogen powered ships, Liquified CO2 (LCO2) carrier, is outstripping supply. A must in the ‘bucket list’ of every Shipyard. Pinning down a standard ROI in shipbuilding is not easy, but experts suggest it could range from 4% to 15% for the high demand ‘carbon neutral’ ships. While an LNG new build vessel could cost US$ 250 million upwards.


International collaboration

On China’s shipbuilding success story, Manoj Pandalanghat (Singapore) a mariner and ship owner believes that “China has around 50 active Shipyards. Each have a few large dry docks. In each dock two or more large vessels are built simultaneously. Thus, a single yard is able to roll out 2/3 vessels/month, 36 vessels/year and 50 shipyards roll out 1800 vessels/year”.


China could be a jaldi-5, but India needs a sturdy Mount Fiji. Besides technology, Japanese bring the most important hand baggage of soft-skills and culture, essential for success from keel laying to delivery. Maruti’s is a standing example.


Food for thought for New Delhi

a. Expertise: Hire Naval Architects and shipbuilding experts with current international experience.

b. Government assistance: Land, Financial support, subsidies and timebound clearances.

c. Monitoring: PMO should monitor the first 5 to 10 years till Shipbuilding takes-off on this long-haul flight to destination 2047.


India’s Shipbuilding is expected to grow to $237 billion by year 2047. On a back of the envelope calculations this works out to about 4% of India’s 2047 projected GDP of $ 5 trillion. While cars are driven on roads, however the Ministry of roads and transport has little to do with “Automobile manufacturing”. On a similar note, ‘Shipbuilding’ as an industry has little to do with Ports, Shipping and Waterways, thus it may be worthwhile to consider a separate ‘Ship-building’ wing in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways headed by a dynamic cabinet rank minister. Since 2047 targets are stiff and an uphill task, so in all probabilities, the officials in Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways are likely to push beneath the carpet, delays and failures of Shipbuilding with sweet success stories of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” and if this does happen then India will not only miss the Shipbuilding bus of 21st century but a lot more from a national security and strategic perspective.


(The author is a Shipping and Marine consultant. Member Singapore Shipping Association and empaneled with IMO as a specialist consultant. Views personal.)

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