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An archive of the blog posts at indiainlondon.com which is no longer maintained. We hope you enjoy delving back into some of our past musings and thoughts.

Friday, 29 May 2015

Beyond Bollywood - a riot of colour and dance


There have been a few Bollywood musicals on the London stage and some readers may have seen Bombay Dreams – a Lloyd Webber production – and Merchants of Bollywood – which we saw at the Peacock Theatre. With the recent launch of Beyond Bollywood at the London Palladium it was not an event to be missed.


The audience was pleasingly quite mixed. Indian / Asian families and couples were in the majority, and it transpired later many were Gujaratis who whooped at the Gujarati dances. In addition, there were many African-Caribbean and white families too, perhaps getting their first taste of Bollywood.


The plotline is quite simple: with the death of her mother, Jaswinder, a theatre owner and Kathak dancer, Shaily, a jazz funk dancer, leaves her home in Germany to find the roots of Indian dance in India and so save the theatre from aggressive promoters.


At each stage the audience are taken through various styles of dance from the Kathak of Jaswinder, jazz funk, and following Shaily’s journey through India in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat, Orissa and discovering the dances around the Hindu festival of Holi, and using the Sufi tradition of Qawwali singers.


It was good to see the production embrace Indian regional differences and styles, as well as the main religions of Islam and Hinduism. Anyone familiar with contemporary Bollywood  will recognise the dance styles and the costumes


The four main leads: Ana Ilmi as Shaily Shergil, Mohit Mathur as Raghav, a Bollywood choreographer, Sudeep Modak as Ballu, his assistant, and Pooja Pant, as Shaily’s mother, Jaswinder Shergill, were all outstanding. Indeed one wishes Pant had been on stage longer; her movements and gestures were sublime. The accompanying chorus lines were also outstanding with barely a foot wrong in the whole production; they had to master a range of styles with fast costume changes necessary on occasion.


The music was a mix of familiar songs e.g. Jai Ho, from Slumdog Millionaire, and songs written especially for this production. And almost without fail the music literally hit the right notes, from the ballads to the more upbeat numbers.  The sets were amazing, using backlit screens, and easily transported the audience from Europe to India, and the various regions of India.


Beyond Bollywood embodies the spirit of modern Bollywood: the vibrancy, energy, costumes and music, and in particular, the ensemble dances as well as the virtuoso dances. My only criticisms would be that the show could have gone on for a further 5 minutes and perhaps would have benefitted from an encore that the audience’s standing ovation demanded. For me the production went far too quickly and kept me spellbound.


http://beyondbollywoodmusical.com/

Tuesday, 12 May 2015

A Rising Force? Asians in Politics


This last general election has been, at least at its denouement, the most compelling in recent times. The results, the nature of the government, and the identity of our Prime Minister were uncertain until the exit polls which many senior politicians did not believe. The “Portillo Moment” is now the “Balls Moment”.

For the Conservatives (Tories) the anxieties of an election campaign they thought they might lose have now morphed into the anxieties of actually governing in a continuing difficult economic environment with public spending cuts promised, and uncertainties about the SNP and an EU referendum. One need not be the Oracle or Akashwani to predict that the next few years will not be dull politically. It might be that the Tories will be in power for another 10 years with Labour and the Liberal Democrats having imploded, with beneficial boundary changes in the offing, the possibility of neutralising UKIP, and a strong economy.

At least with the end of the election campaign one will be spared photographs of the leading politicians at temples and mosques with their wives in Indian clothes, photogenic as they are, and with the men in headcoverings and patkas. One might wonder where the campaign stops at church services are; I think their absence might tell us a great deal about contemporary Britain.

Looking through the papers it occurred to me that apparently the Asian representation in Parliament has been changing and it might be good to examine that, and to focus on a few MPs. I did know that the first Asian MP had been Dadabhai Naoroji  in 1892. I am unsure of what other Asians had been elected prior to Keith Vaz in 1992, now the respected Chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. There are a number of British Asians who have been elevated to the House of Lords from Karan Bilimoria, to Shruti Vadera and Sayeeda Warsi.

My relatively cursory examination of the detailed results of the General Election suggest that there were 24 MPs of Asian origin elected; 13 Labour, 10 Conservative, and 1 SNP. The Times of India reported 10 MPs of Indian origin after this General Election but this appears to exclude those of Pakistani heritage whom I have included.

Picking three Asian Tories it is interesting to compare their backgrounds. This week Priti Patel was made a Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions – not quite Cabinet level - and intriguingly she was in western clothes to meet the Prime Minister. Sayeeda Warsi was in salwaar kamez when she took the famous walk up Downing Street in 2005 perhaps making the point about her heritage. Of Gujarati origin Patel’s family moved to the UK from Uganda and ran a chain of newsagents. With a work career mainly in PR, and time with James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party, Patel is reputedly a “rising star”.

Sajid Javed has used his background to suggest that the Tories are a party of inclusion; he appears to make more reference to his father’s work as a bus driver than his origins from Pakistan. From a relatively ordinary upbringing Javid became a banker at Chase Manhattan. Javed has been an MP since 2005, a Cabinet Minister as Culture Secretary since 2013, and this week was appointed Secretary of State for Business, which should play to his strengths as a former banker. Unsurprisingly he is also regarded as a “rising star”.

By contrast Rishi Sunak comes from a relatively privileged background; the son of a doctor he went to Winchester College, Oxford, and Stanford. He is married to the daughter of a founder of Infosys, probably the leading Indian IT services company. Elected in the safe seat of Richmond, William Hague’s former seat, his political career seems assured.

Probably the Asian Tory MP with the most compelling career thus far is Rehman Chishti, who has represented Gillingham since 2010. A barrister, he served as an adviser to the late Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani Prime Minister. He was also a Labour candidate before defecting to the Tories; one is reminded that Winston Churchill in his long political career also “ratted” or crossed the floor.

The Labour MP Seema Malhotra had a previous career as a management consultant and then a special adviser to Harriet Harman, now Acting Leader of the Labour Party. Rushanara Ali, of Bangladeshi origin, was raised in Tower Hamlets, went to Oxford to study PPE, and has been the Labour MP for Bethnal Green since 2010. Sadiq Khan’s father, like that of Sajid Javed, was also a bus driver, but unlike Javed Khan joined the Labour Party, and has been the Labour MP for Tooting since 2005. Khan is apparently considering running for the post of London Mayor.

There is a cluster of Asian Labour MPs in areas with large Asian populations. So, for example, the Mahmoods in Birmingham, others in Bradford and Bolton. The new SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh has had a very colourful backstory. Her father is Pakistani and her mother Welsh/Scottish, and she was apparently a Bollywood star and recently a solicitor.

Unlike many others most Asian candidates had no family networks or the easy route through university and internships. Names such as Straw, Hurd, Kinnock, Rees Mogg, Tugendhat and Goldsmith on the lists of candidates make clear their familial connections. However many Asians have probably benefitted from positive discrimination particularly from Party headquarters, but most would have made it in politics despite such policies.

While the rise of Asians in politics in the UK should be welcomed their rise has not been without controversies. In April 2015 Lutfur Rahman was convicted of electoral fraud during his tenure as Mayor of Tower Hamlets and barred from office. In some constituencies there have been allegations of postal voting fraud and undue influence. There have been continuing controversies surrounding caste with the Electoral Commission investigating an electoral leaflet prepared by a Hindu organisation supporting a Tory candidate against a Hindu one. In addition, the campaign of Naz Khan in Bradford was mired in disputes with another candidate, George Galloway. The press have made much of photographs of candidates and their wives being separated in temples and mosques.

Followers of US political dramas such as The West Wing and House of Cards will know that black members of Congress and the Senate organise themselves into a Black Causus, voting en bloc in their own interests or in furtherance of their aims. Could a similar situation happen in the UK? It’s unlikely as MPs are more loyal to their parties – in the US the politics of race often transcend party loyalties.

Can one suggest that only someone of Asian origin can represent other Asians? No, because the interests of most voters are aligned, certainly at a high level. For most UK voters they want a country that is safe, creates the conditions for most to thrive, defends the NHS, educates its children, and offers a secure safety net. Where one might differ is generally in nuance: how much money should be given to the NHS, how should it be organised, what welfare should be offered, how can we better organise our schools? All while enabling business to create jobs and pay tax – usually.

But Parliament must be representative of our nation; its breadth and diversity. One has to stop thinking of our Indian and black representatives in terms of their colour but merely as our representatives; but I suppose you could argue I am doing exactly that in this piece. However, their continuing success in being elected for diverse parties, and taking part in the political process must be celebrated.

A Rising Force? Asians in Politics After the 2015 General Election


This last general election has been, at least at its denouement, the most compelling in recent times. The results, the nature of the government, and the identity of our Prime Minister were uncertain until the exit polls which many senior politicians did not believe. The “Portillo Moment” is now the “Balls Moment”.

For the Conservatives (Tories) the anxieties of an election campaign they thought they might lose have now morphed into the anxieties of actually governing in a continuing difficult economic environment with public spending cuts promised, and uncertainties about the SNP and an EU referendum. One need not be the Oracle or Akashwani to predict that the next few years will not be dull politically. It might be that the Tories will be in power for another 10 years with Labour and the Liberal Democrats having imploded, with beneficial boundary changes in the offing, the possibility of neutralising UKIP, and a strong economy.

At least with the end of the election campaign one will be spared photographs of the leading politicians at temples and mosques with their wives in Indian clothes, photogenic as they are, and with the men in headcoverings and patkas. One might wonder where the campaign stops at church services are; I think their absence might tell us a great deal about contemporary Britain.

Looking through the papers it occurred to me that apparently the Asian representation in Parliament has been changing and it might be good to examine that, and to focus on a few MPs. I did know that the first Asian MP had been Dadabhai Naoroji in 1892. I am unsure of what other Asians had been elected prior to Keith Vaz in 1992, now the respected Chair of the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee. There are a number of British Asians who have been elevated to the House of Lords from Karan Bilimoria, to Shruti Vadera and Sayeeda Warsi.

My relatively cursory examination of the detailed results of the General Election suggest that there were 24 MPs of Asian origin elected; 13 Labour, 10 Conservative, and 1 SNP. The Times of India reported 10 MPs of Indian origin after this General Election but this appears to exclude those of Pakistani heritage whom I have included.

Picking three Asian Tories it is interesting to compare their backgrounds. This week Priti Patel was made a Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions – not quite Cabinet level - and intriguingly she was in western clothes to meet the Prime Minister. Sayeeda Warsi was in salwaar kamez when she took the famous walk up Downing Street in 2005 perhaps making the point about her heritage. Of Gujarati origin Patel’s family moved to the UK from Uganda and ran a chain of newsagents. With a work career mainly in PR, and time with James Goldsmith’s Referendum Party, Patel is reputedly a “rising star”.

Sajid Javed has used his background to suggest that the Tories are a party of inclusion; he appears to make more reference to his father’s work as a bus driver than his origins from Pakistan. From a relatively ordinary upbringing Javid became a banker at Chase Manhattan. Javed has been an MP since 2005, a Cabinet Minister as Culture Secretary since 2013, and this week was appointed Secretary of State for Business, which should play to his strengths as a former banker. Unsurprisingly he is also regarded as a “rising star”.

By contrast Rishi Sunak comes from a relatively privileged background; the son of a doctor he went to Winchester College, Oxford, and Stanford. He is married to the daughter of a founder of Infosys, probably the leading Indian IT services company. Elected in the safe seat of Richmond, William Hague’s former seat, his political career seems assured.

Probably the Asian Tory MP with the most compelling career thus far is Rehman Chishti, who has represented Gillingham since 2010. A barrister, he served as an adviser to the late Benazir Bhutto, the Pakistani Prime Minister. He was also a Labour candidate before defecting to the Tories; one is reminded that Winston Churchill in his long political career also “ratted” or crossed the floor.

The Labour MP Seema Malhotra had a previous career as a management consultant and then a special adviser to Harriet Harman, now Acting Leader of the Labour Party. Rushanara Ali, of Bangladeshi origin, was raised in Tower Hamlets, went to Oxford to study PPE, and has been the Labour MP for Bethnal Green since 2010. Sadiq Khan’s father, like that of Sajid Javed, was also a bus driver, but unlike Javed Khan joined the Labour Party, and has been the Labour MP for Tooting since 2005. Khan is apparently considering running for the post of London Mayor.

There is a cluster of Asian Labour MPs in areas with large Asian populations. So, for example, the Mahmoods in Birmingham, others in Bradford and Bolton. The new SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh has had a very colourful backstory. Her father is Pakistani and her mother Welsh/Scottish, and she was apparently a Bollywood star and recently a solicitor.

Unlike many others most Asian candidates had no family networks or the easy route through university and internships. Names such as Straw, Hurd, Kinnock, Rees Mogg, Tugendhat and Goldsmith on the lists of candidates make clear their familial connections. However many Asians have probably benefitted from positive discrimination particularly from Party headquarters, but most would have made it in politics despite such policies.

While the rise of Asians in politics in the UK should be welcomed their rise has not been without controversies. In April 2015 Lutfur Rahman was convicted of electoral fraud during his tenure as Mayor of Tower Hamlets and barred from office. In some constituencies there have been allegations of postal voting fraud and undue influence. There have been continuing controversies surrounding caste with the Electoral Commission investigating an electoral leaflet prepared by a Hindu organisation supporting a Tory candidate against a Hindu one. In addition, the campaign of Naz Khan in Bradford was mired in disputes with another candidate, George Galloway. The press have made much of photographs of candidates and their wives being separated in temples and mosques.

Followers of US political dramas such as The West Wing and House of Cards will know that black members of Congress and the Senate organise themselves into a Black Causus, voting en bloc in their own interests or in furtherance of their aims. Could a similar situation happen in the UK? It’s unlikely as MPs are more loyal to their parties – in the US the politics of race often transcend party loyalties.

Can one suggest that only someone of Asian origin can represent other Asians? No, because the interests of most voters are aligned, certainly at a high level. For most UK voters they want a country that is safe, creates the conditions for most to thrive, defends the NHS, educates its children, and offers a secure safety net. Where one might differ is generally in nuance: how much money should be given to the NHS, how should it be organised, what welfare should be offered, how can we better organise our schools? All while enabling business to create jobs and pay tax – usually.

But Parliament must be representative of our nation; its breadth and diversity. One has to stop thinking of our Indian and black representatives in terms of their colour but merely as our representatives; but I suppose you could argue I am doing exactly that in this piece. However, their continuing success in being elected for diverse parties, and taking part in the political process must be celebrated.

Thursday, 30 April 2015

E-commerce in India - the future?

[caption id="attachment_1628" align="alignleft" width="620"]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Market_along_the_road_in_India.JPG See end for attribution[/caption]

Last week I went a bit overboard – well it’s a normal week - and ordered numerous books – Amitav Ghosh in particular as I’m going to his book launch - and computer speakers,  so I could listen to my favourite podcasts. All this shopping arrived the next day, with the delivery company telling me to the hour when the shipments would arrive.  My street is full of delivery vans during the day and over the years I’ve come to know many of the drivers – they are invariably male – but despite that my name continues to baffle them.  Now Amazon suggests that it will be able to deliver packages the same day using drones, although I’m not quite sure how that might work on my central London street; perhaps platforms and chutes on my roof?

Our habits have changed. Internet shopping in the UK certainly is here to stay, certainly for books, clothes, and for some families for food, although I quite like the food shopping experience particularly at the ethnic shops and Quality Foods in Hounslow.

Some might say that this delivery revolution is a new phenomenon. However, my mother tells me that when we arrived at a new hospital in the UK – my father was a doctor – the consultant’s wife, if she was friendly and helpful, would introduce her to the local shopkeepers.  There would be generally be a local grocer, baker, fishmonger and butcher. At some point in the morning my mother would order by phone from the relevant shop, and in the afternoon a boy on a bike would deliver the provisions.  Payment wasn’t expected immediately but later. This doesn’t sound that different to the internet food shopping of today.

Some 20 years ago a cousin from Calcutta came to stay with us in Birmingham and I suppose she was shocked in a good way at the food, and the choices available, in our local Safeway.  On my subsequent trips to India, and without being aware of the social and political constraints, I felt that as the economy expanded invariably supermarkets in India would be a major growth sector.  I am reminded that apparently one of the reasons for Vladimir Putin’s continuing popularity in Russia, which liberalised economically at about the same time as India, is his perceived role in creating the conditions for new supermarkets to open.  For the Russians these supermarkets give them a choice that was not available under the old regime.

I always found Calcutta backward in its retail sector. There was in the past only one decent bookshop, Oxford Bookshop, in a city the size of London and magazines & periodicals were sold on the street. Yes there are more sophisticated malls now but Calcutta still does not have the retail sector a city of its size needs.

Sue and I both remember being in France in the 1970s and 80s and seeing the local Carrefour and Leclerc hypermarkets, which were of a different scale to supermarkets then in the UK.  Sue remembers France in those days being a 'foodie heaven' - with most hypermarkets stocking a huge range of cheeses, fish, fruit and vegetables unavailable in the UK at that time.   Most developed countries’ retail sectors moved in the same way. But now in the UK there is more of a focus on the smaller supermarkets such as Tesco Express, and Sainburys Local, as well as the emergence of relatively low-cost supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl.  We appear to be in a post-hypermarket era, particularly as Tesco announces huge losses largely caused by write-offs in its property portfolio.

Now as Robin Pagnamenta reports[i] in The Times India is supposedly at the beginnings of an e-commerce revolution with investments from Amazon, and with local e-commerce rivals such as Flipkart and Snapdeal receiving some of $1b in funding. Clearly investors expect India, in terms of e-commerce to be the next Holy Grail.

Pagnamenta suggests that India, as with telecommunications moving from low landline penetration to 4G mobile, will leapfrog from a third world retail sector into the Internet e-commerce era without the intermediate “bricks and mortar” stage.  Up to now some 90% of India’s $500b retail sector has been dominated by backward local shops, shacks and carts. Any newcomers into the supermarket sector were discouraged by rules on local ownership, and shop size amongst others.  But as rules changed it was expected that global supermarket companies such as Tesco and Wal-Mart would enter the India market; they often had limited joint ventures ostensibly to learn about the marketplace but no serious inroads were made. It was often thought that the entry of these foreign operators would dramatically increase the range of produce, and ready meals perhaps available.

The supermarket entry narrative would suggest that the supply chain would be modernised so that food was no longer wasted on a mass scale. Figures are hard to come but perhaps 40% of all fresh food rots in India somewhere along the supply chain.[ii] The main reasons appear to be the lack of refrigeration, poor roads and corruption. I doubt any European or American supermarket would tolerate these levels of food wastage particularly as it would impact directly on their bottom line.

There are some indigenous supermarket chains such as Spencers, and Reliance Fresh but levels of penetration across India and amongst the middle classes appears to be relatively low. Why? Most homes still have servants, who could be sent shopping to the local markets, shops and shacks.  In addition,  if, for example, it is very cheap to have a cook then why spend money on ready meals?  And as we know takeaway food is available cheaply. Pagnamenta also suggests that with poor roads, few Indians would want to drive to an out of town supermarket despite its attractions.

Nevertheless with these investments as noted earlier it does appear that the Indian retail sector will be undergoing changes. Small grocers do already offer delivery as in the UK in the 1960s. Would a smartphone user order produce to their home? I’m not certain, especially as the market is probably a single person or a couple who could easily stop off on their way home as we now generally do in the UK. For the family with servants there seems to be no compelling reason to order food online. Some goods perhaps, electronics or books might work on an e-commerce basis.

If deliveries do become commonplace there will no shortage of willing employees to become drivers, but probably because of the risk of theft, and the low cost of labour most vans would have two employees on board thus negating some of the cost advantages. Drivers would need a level of initiative, literacy and IT awareness and for those with these skills there are many other opportunities.

I do wonder if this focus on e-commerce in India is misplaced. Food production and its supply chain needs to be overhauled and moving straight to e-commerce is not the way to achieve it. In the West the supply chains were already relatively smooth and e-commerce was offered from existing warehouses. Amazon began by siting itself next to a large book warehouse. Educated and middle-class Indians are still coming to terms with some changes in the retail sector and it seems too early to make the jump to e-commerce. Delivery drivers will be hard to recruit and they would have to cope with the same poor roads. Were I in authority, I would still want to encourage Western "bricks and mortar" retailers to enter the Indian market.

Photo: by Milei.vencel (Own work) Creative Commons

[i] The Times, 20th April 2015

[ii] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28139586; http://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Policy/India-damned-by-food-wastage-report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, 26 March 2015

India's new minister for Yoga - a blueprint for the West?

[caption id="attachment_1608" align="alignleft" width="300"]Yoga_Mariko_Bhakti_Hirakawa_at_Veerupaksha_Temple_India See below for attribution[/caption]

Towards the end of last year, Modi announced his new bid for global dominance by appointing a new  Minister for Yoga.  To give him his full title, Shripad Naik is now India's minister in charge of the department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).

What a fantastic idea, I thought.  Every country should have one of those, and that might actually inspire me to live my (fantasised, ideal, probably non-realistic life) when I get up every day at 5.30am for an hour's meditation, before a wholesome breakfast of porridge and peppermint tea.  That is all before working the next 12 hours saving lives and soothing souls, to come home and relax with 45 minutes of yoga followed by chamomile tea, a light vegetarian meal and an early night.  Yes, well we can all dream and in the meantime live with Reality.

I'll start with his grand title:  Yoga, Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine - I will give him those, as somewhat related to India and South Asian traditional medicine and practices (although Unani originated from the Greeks and developed in Persia and Arabia) .  Naturopathy, however, has its origins in the Nature Cure movement in Europe in the 19th century, and is now practised mainly in the US and Canada - although many osteopaths in the UK will still call themselves, 'osteopaths and naturopaths'.  Not much of an Indian connection, though.  Similarly with homeopathy, created in the late 18th century by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician who created this system of medicine of treating 'like with like'.  Homeopathy seems to have been introduced to India via European involvement in the 19th century.  What is clear, though is that both naturopathy and homeopathy are mainly European inventions and imports and really nothing to do with Indian philosophy or traditional practice.

But let's not forget the Chinese equivalent perhaps under Mao, of 'barefoot doctors'.  Once a practising acupuncturist, I felt duty bound to have a copy of 'the Barefoot Doctor's Manual' on my bookshelf - proof positive that low tech traditional medicine such as Chinese medicine and acupuncture were the future, in being both affordable and effective.

It does actually seem that China's system of giving basic training to many 'village doctors' who then went out into the resource-poor villages, was indeed effective in reducing infectious diseases and improving infant and child mortality rates.  But it seems their efficacy lay not so much in the application of traditional Chinese medical practices, but more in basic hygiene and public health measures taken out to the village level that really made a difference, compared to the concentration of medical services in high tech, inaccessible urban hospitals.

I am quite sure there have been many efforts at similar schemes in India - but just think how much could be achieved if similar, traditional village doctors could be trained in a similar fashion in India. Perhaps, though, their impact might lie in the implementation of basic public health measures such as hand washing, clean water, sewers and vaccination rather than reliance per se on yoga or ayurveda.  Used in this way, emphasising low-tech medicine culturally embedded in India, could prove to be an acceptable way of transforming popular health beliefs and practices.

Modi, however, could be making a purely commercial move.  Apparently a keen practitioner of yoga himself, it could prove to be a savvy commercial decision aiming to capitalise on yoga's popularity in the West.  For example, a 2012 study estimates that the US spends more than $10.3 billion  year on yoga classes[i].   That is a lot of revenue if India can claim it's right to 'own ' the yoga and Eastern medical 'brand'.  The 'hippy' era is perhaps itself being drawn into the commodification demanded by late capitalism, where even health and spirituality is marketed and packaged for profit.   Despite its lack of scientific proof demanded by evidence-based medicine, it can be seen as part of India's quest for its own identity, it's own USP, squeezed out by British colonialism and dominance of Western medicine.

The binary distinction between West and East, however, might not be so easily imposed.  Not only is yoga big business both in the USA and UK, so are many different types of 'alternative medicine' - with advocates right at the heart of the British establishment.  Prince Charles is a well-known outspoken supporter of alternative medicine, founding his 'Foundation for Integrated Health' in 1993 - later rebranded as the 'College of Medicine'.  Both Princess Diana and Cherie Blair consulted alternative 'New Age' practitioners for counselling and advice.  More recently, David Tredinnick - a former officer in the Grenadier Guards and Conservative MP is both a supporter of astrology and alternative medicine - even advocating for the integration of astrology into the National Health Service.

So perhaps India is just capitalising on a global trend as seekers of the esoteric leave rationality behind in their quest for the transcendental.  And where the market might prevail over the language of scientific proof.  As long as the consumers purchase, the profits are made and the brand identity is protected, who needs evidence?

Photo: By Ramnath Bhat (Flickr: Mariko Bhakti Hirakawa) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

[i] The Telegraph, 3rd December 2014

Elephants, Lord Ganesha and the Indian Independence Movement

Ganesh Festival, Bombay 1987 I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was 1987 and we had just arrived in Bombay (as it was the...