opinion Citizen Contibutor

briefing to the Prime Minister on the coming out of his people in Beijing or beth House Fellow of Oxford Univer-

INDIA CLUELESS OVER TIBET,

eve of Mr Singh’s visit. If what has Burma. The RAW should be forced to sity and author of the well-acclaimed
been reported about Chaturvedi (and acquire some teeth and loose worthless “Insurgent Crossfire”. He is a known
not exactly denied by him or the agen- flab -- and that’s for its chief as well. expert on Burma, Nepal, Bhutan and

BURMA DEVELOPMENTS
cy) is even half true, the RAW should (Subir Bhaumik is BBC’s bureau Bangladesh as well as on Northeast
hang its head in shame. And we can- chief for Eastern and Northeastern India and has written for several aca-
not expect any worthwhile intelligence India. He is a former Queen Eliza- demic publications)

Why should India But China is worried over the trou- As they say, charity begins at home.

I have measured
have an external ble in Tibet and that is our good chance Or around it.
intelligence agen- to act in Burma. China is keen not to Since the Chinese intrusions in
cy like the RAW? screw up its image in the rundown to the disputed Himalayan borderlands

out my life with

The least we the Beijing Olympics. The way to put have increased and since they are of-
can expect these pressure on China is to publicly state ten talking hostile on the border, we
sleuths to do for that India wants negotiations between should flex our sinews in Tibet. In a

the country is to China and the Tibetan exile govern-
do some advance ment for a lasting solution in Tibet.
intelligence gath- So far, the Chinese have played their
By Subir Bhaumik
ering. Unless we cards well. Every time they have
know of some impending development put pressure on Dalai Lama, he has
well in advance from their reports, why climbed down. The Chinese make an
coffee spoons
calculated way, not in a stupid Captain
Baumgarten style, the way Nehru or-
dered his great General Kaul “to throw
the Chinks out.”
We should push the Chinese to
open negotiations with the Dalai Lama

should the taxpayer shell out so much
money for the rather expensive upkeep
of these officials in foreign lands. In
recent months, two major develop-
ments in the neighbourhood has caught
us napping. Neither our Ministry of
External Affairs nor our Cabinet Sec-
retariat (of which the RAW is a part)
had any idea about why General Than
Shwe suddenly announced a referen-
dum on a new constitution in Burma to
be followed two years later by elections
. And then Tibet erupted in angry pro-
tests, Delhi again had no clue. So For-
eign minister Pranab Mukherjee had to
assure journalists that “India will soon
react formally”.
Both the issues are crucial to India.
The Burmese military junta is facing a
serious internal crisis. Senior General
Than Shwe is sick, possibly dying of
colon cancer. His number two General
Maung Aye is all set to depose him,
given a chance. Maung Aye is said to
be close to India and is possibly com-
ing to Delhi next month. It is important
that Delhi not only knows why Than
Shwe suddenly called for the referen-
dum or the elections -- and also which
way the wind is blowing in Burma. If
we know for sure that Than Shwe is
physically sinking, we should use our
influence with Maung Aye to negotiate
a much faster return to democracy. If
we dont take the initiative in Burma,
China will.
accusation, the Dalai Lama denies
it and supports the Chinese position.
Brilliant statecraft, is not it. The Chi-
nese started blaming Dalai Lama for
the recent trouble in Tibet and said he
was trying to ruin the Olympics -- and
then you have the Dalai Lama coming
out openly in support of allowing the
Olympics to be held smoothly. That
should not happen. India should get
the Dalai Lama to press for negotia-
tions -- the Tibetan leader should not
announce any concession to Chinese
position unless Beijing starts nego-
tiations with him. China is waiting
for him to die -- after that, they will
foist a Dalai Lama of their choice in
the Tibetan people and that should not
be allowed to happen. The Dalai Lama
for all his failures to handle aggressive
Chinese diplomacy has been remark-
ably successful in holding together
the exile Tibetan community in India
-- and it is India who should take ad-
vantage of it.
But as the Dalai Lama says, India
is far too cautious on Tibet. There is
no reason why we should be. India is
seen as a key player in Tibet and in
Burma -- and if the government does
not live upto global expectations, we
should forget about a permanent seat
in the Security Council or playing a
key global role on climate change.
First we should show the world we can
act decisively in the neighbourhood.
for a permanent solution to the Tibetan
problem. And this is the right time to
do it, now that it has been proved that
taking the train to Lhasa has not settled
the problem in Tibet and the embers
of rebellion still burns. We should not
be scared of possible Chinese moves
in Northeast or in Burma or Pakistan.
We can always open Tibet to China’s
discomfort and the West will be with
us on that.
Similarly, when China is busy
with Tibet, we should use whatever
influence we have with the Burmese
generals to push them to a much faster
course of democracy -- referendum
and elections all within this year. The
world will greet us if we manage to get
the Chinese to sit with Dalai Lama on
Tibet and push the Burmese generals
towards democracy. That’s easier said
than done but if we aim for the sky, we
will at least hit the roof, Otherwise we
will always lie on the floor and gaze
at the stars, hoping all these will take
their own course.
But to begin with, our cabinet and
high executive need to know well in
advance why Tibet is blowing up and
why is Burma’s military strongman
announcing referendum and polls. The
grapevine in Delhi has it that Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh is furious
with the RAW chief Ashok Chaturvedi
because he even got the names of the
Chinese leaders wrong during his
T
here is something about ‘a cup of
coffee’- that takes you far back
in time. It is what memories are
made up of! It is where dreams begin
and stories start! It is what friendships
are held on together with! It is, where
love begins- over a cup of coffee. “For
I have known them all already, known
Rosemary Ishorari them all- have known the evenings,
mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with
coffee spoons”. (The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufock. Eliot
T.S.)
Every little grain that is churned and tossed and turned
and blended with, oh so many delicious flavours spells a
sensation like never before. Every mood has a flavour to
go with it- Cappuchino, Mochachino, Café Latte, Café
Mocha, Irish Coffee and it goes on.
But the experience is less about exploring the exotic
world of coffee beans. It is more about hours and moments
that come and go faster than the sips we gulp down. We
cannot hold on to time or moments or relationships. But
we can hold on to memories we build of them, to trav-
el with us through passages of time. Memories that are
shaped and treasured in little spaces of our hearts are of-
ten built in coffee houses or experienced over ‘Nescafe’.
There is never a word that sounds more soothing, a joke
more funny, gossip more exciting or love more intoxicat-
ing, when cups of coffee in our hands keep us warm or
chilled but steady. It is the ultimate panacea to “burnt out
ends of smoky days.” (Preludes. Eliot T. S.)
And the quaint little corners we can lose ourselves
in; quaint people who flit in and out of the door (like the
many flavours, the variety is amazing). People from all
walks of life- some ‘show-offs’, some ‘put-offs’. But, only
those who know that ‘a coffee’ is ‘more than just a coffee’,
should walk in to create the soft memories that are built in
strange little coffee houses.
It never really is an ‘everybody’s joint’. But for the
some bodies to whom coffee joins the company that
comes along, it simply blends with the music in the back-
ground, or the lights in the foreground, or the seats we
sit in- wooden-benches, cane-chairs, cushioned-settees or
little-couches. It is just there. A tiny little place, lost in a
street corner or as conspicuously noticeable as the taxes
they charge. Yet it is the soul and center for coffee-addicts
to whom it is a shot of Tequila for gloomy days. And to
some a link with the past- for sometimes it is here that
nostalgia is born. And to some, a haven for the present
where moments spell the magic of love. It is where the
clock ticks on, but time is never ending. Till blissful sagas
of love, friendship, companionship, or just the experience
of a cup of coffee is borne and nurtured to carve a niche
for itself in our hearts, that shall go down in the pages of
our diary.
‘Starbucks’ may have made the ‘coffee-culture’ a
global phenomenon and charmed the masses around the
world with so wonderful an idea. But, to me, a sip prom-
ises relief ‘from the madding crowds’. They simply seem
to evaporate with a steaming cup; leaving my world to
center around just me and my coffee-table; an intoxication
not worth killing- that I never want should ever be doused!
And like T.S.Eliot, I shall “measure out my life with cof-
fee spoons”- and that too, forever!
By Rosemary Ishorari

 April 08 April 08