Atanu Dey On India's Development

The Sad Case of Mr B Raman

August 30, 2012 by Atanu Dey | 38 Comments

Old age, degeneration and death is pretty much the way of all flesh. Impermanence is a feature of the universe, not a bug. Still it is depressing to witness someone’s mental decline, which is worse than watching them physically decline. Mr B Raman, once a somewhat sharp mind, is evidently losing his grip on reality.

(Click on the image to read some of the tweets in response.)

While I would differ with Mr Raman about Shri Narendra Modi, I understand why he is critical of Modi. Perfectly mentally sound people sometimes hold unreasonable views. Where I think Raman displays his mental weakness is regarding Mrs Priyanka Vadra née Gandhi.

Like her brother, her main accomplishment appears to be that she is the granddaughter of Mrs Indira Gandhi – and she’s as pretty as her brother Mr Raul Vinci aka Rahul Gandhi. She’s married to one Mr Robert Vadra whose net worth is estimated at billions of dollars. Mr Vadra is uniquely successful in business, it would appear. I am sure proximity to power has nothing to do with it. Purely coincidental. It just so happens that often people who have political power in banana republics suddenly become fabulously wealthy.

Anyway, this is not about Mr Vadra or even about Priyanka or her pretty brother. This is about Mr Raman.

About a year or so ago, Mr Raman got infatuated with one Ms Barkha Dutt. Nothing illegal there. It is quite normal for males to get infatuated with females. Before the advent of these interwebs, only one’s closest acquaintances would know about one’s infatuations. These days one can make a public display of it and get laughed at by people halfway across the world.

Mr Raman made an ass of himself in public on twitter regarding Ms Dutt then. Now he is doing the same for Ms Vadra. I guess next he will be sending little love notes via twitter to pretty Mr Rahul Gandhi. And when he does, and when neutral observers like me (neutral to the issue of who loves whom and why) point out the silliness of public displays of affection, Mr Raman will no doubt protest that trolls or “internet Hindus” are bothering him and claim that that proves whatever point he thinks he was making by professing his love and admiration of the pretty one. It is both sad and funny.

Aniccha, aniccha.

Post Script: Sept 3rd. I am in transit from my home in the Silicon Valley to India. I plan to respond properly after I arrive, on the 5th of Sept.

  • ramikumi

    I agree. I have often wondered what makes perfectly sane people turn illogical towards the end of their lives. The curious case of B. Raman is one of them. Here is a retired babu who has time for writing tedious blogs that no body cares to read and unqualified twitter support for women at the center of paid media and corrupt ways.

  • Ram Jetty

    Nice analysis & write-up. This b.raman man is a complete gone case who is counting his days miserably with the company of an exposed women. He tweets for none other but for himself to read & barks at NaMo just to make that lady wand her tail. Pity, to see this x-babu, b.raman is cozying up in dogs kennel instead of finding solace in ‘Aadyatmak’.
    As a well-wisher to a senior citizen I reminded over the twitter, but it seems he is well drilled into his fate.

    Ramjetty ‏@Ramprasadjetty
    @SORBONNE75 …a very unreasonable hatred towards NaMo, Sir you seemed settled down entertaining one particular jurno & her vague funda,
    8:35 PM – 29 Jul 12 · Details

    B.RAMAN ‏@SORBONNE75
    @Ramprasadjetty No hatred, pl.Disillusioned.

  • Gaurav G (@gaurravg)

    Incredible article: apparently if you don’t agree with a person’s tweet you are completely justified in making wild allegations about that person’s age and personal relationships/ judgments.

    Awkward that that same person’s entire timeline and long-term blog shows undeniable proof to the opposite of these strange allegations.

    I’m a defender of the free-wheeling spirit of the Internet, but such travesties of “freedom of speech” always make me a little sad….

    Mr Dey, if you choose to appeal to the lowest common denominator, you may soon find yourself confined to that level….

  • Pranav

    This is the modus operandi to lift the Gandhi family scions.It generally start this way on twitter or some odd guy making such remarks.Then the media on pay roll will pick up from there.Then comes the sycophant and Gandhi family loyalist like Dogvijay who will say about the brightest upcoming star.and lastly the toothless congress MLAs and MPs will sing a choir for Ms.Vadhera.

  • deeteeN

    i think Mr. Raman is angling for some national award like a Padma Bhushan or something

  • http://akshar100.wordpress.com Akshar Prabhu Desai

    The happened to be in our intelligence agencies. He is expected to know lot more about these people than you and me. Such a person loves Priyanka? Truely he has gone senile and it is really very sad.

  • Ravi

    I have always thought Mr Raman to be a joke and mentally unsound. Just read all his columns ( I have for quite some time stopped wasting my time reading him ) and one will find them full of inconstancies. That this man was at one time in the Indian intelligence simply beggars belief!

  • Kedar

    Atanu, you’ve chosen to launch an extremely personal attack against a man who has served his country. You are well within your rights to be upset with his characterization of Rahul and Priyanka, perhaps even right in your attack against those two, but you’ve crossed the line in a very personal attack against B Raman.

    I would have favoured a counter-attack to Mr Raman’s statements, but can’t support your mendacious assault on the person. You’re a guy who has written with great clarity on the economic challenges we face as a nation, and for that I admire your writing. But this character assault is unbecoming of you. Leave the semi-literate malicious ranting to others, please. There are millions of them on twitter.

    • http://www.deeshaa.org Atanu Dey

      Kedar,

      Get a friggin’ life. The blog post is critical of Raman. It is critical of his uncritical support, his sycophancy regarding the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Point out any factual inaccuracy in what I wrote in this short blog post.

      Like I wrote in reply to another comment, it appears that you and Raman are upset that I pointed out the utter silliness of promoting P Vadra as a leader. I understand why Raman wants to suck up to Mrs Vadra. He used to be a govt official and now is retired. His kowtowing to power is understandable. I suppose you too would like to enjoy the perks that may come from sucking up the Nehru-Gandhi clan.

      Good luck. Get in line. Remember, it is a long line. Starts with MMSingh, then Diggy, a few thousand others . . . then Raman . . . then a few million others . . . then you.

  • sanjay

    Stopped reading your stuff a long time ago – too cynical. But couldn’t stand by while you unleash a vile vendetta against someone who doesn’t share your opinions. You’re a disgrace. Ashamed we share the same alma mater.

    • http://www.deeshaa.org Atanu Dey

      Sanjay,

      Wonderful. You find yourself completely justified in criticizing me because I was critical of Raman’s public infatuation with Ms P Vadra. I suppose the irony escapes you.

      You stopped reading me because I was “too cynical.” And what do you call a man who with absolutely no reason asserts that the country should have as its leader someone who has absolutely no qualifications at all other than being born with a certain last name? Is that cynical or what?

      What has got your panties in a twist is that I pointed out a few plain facts about the Nehru-Gandhi family. You and Raman belong to the same bunch of sycophants — people whose survival depends on their sucking up to the powerful.

      Shame on you. Shame on you and your tribe.

  • Sameer

    This isn’t journalism. This is abuse. Sad that Modi sycophants would stoop to any level to defend their mater

    • http://www.deeshaa.org Atanu Dey

      Sameer,

      In case you did not realize, this is not a newspaper. It is a blog about India’s economic development. Learn how to read, for crying out loud.

      If you could read, you would have realized that I do not care whether Raman supports Modi or not. I wrote that I think reasonable people can differ in their opinions about Modi.

      Your are a sick retard who couldn’t understand simple statements. Now that is abuse. I did not abuse Raman. I drew attention to well-known facts. One was that he had the hots for BDutt. If that is untrue, say so.

      I said that Priyanka Vadra has no qualifications at all — and anyone who believes that she can do any good to the country is deluded. Raman made a bald assertion and I called him a retard. What is it you fail to understand in this?

      You have been flamed. Now go away or I will be forced to flame you again.

  • jetlag

    Is it possible that B Raman is sucking up to the powers that be so that his medical bills will be picked up by the govt??

    Just a thought

  • Kedar

    No, Atanu, your blogpost was not critical of his “uncritical support,” it was an assault against his person. I’m happy to point out factual inaccuracies in your writing — let’s start with your insinuation that he is “infatuated” with Ms. Dutt. Where is there proof of this? Hundreds of people engage each other on the twitters, are they all infatuated with each other?

    Your blogpost is the literary equivalent of a headless chicken. You took offense to his endorsement of Priyanka, and decided to spew venom on Raman, the Gandhi-Nehru clan, and now apparently me, and anyone else who found your blogpost detestable. I agree that Priyanka is most uniquely unqualified to run this nation, as are her brother and indeed, her mother, but that doesn’t give you the license to launch a personal assault against Raman, bereft as your assault was, of credibility.

    I hope you exercise judgement before any further venom spewing.

  • http://www.deeshaa.org Atanu Dey

    jetlag,

    Every sycophant of the Nehru-Gandhi family gets rewarded. It’s a trade that is understood very well by both parties. The loyalty that the N-G family has was built on the promise of delivering the goods to its followers.

    My concern is that it is stolen goods. The goods that they buy loyalty is paid for by ordinary tax payers.

    Raman with all his strategic thinking cannot see that. Or perhaps it is not prudent for him to notice these things.

    I wonder if Raman has one of those “padma” awards. If he does not, perhaps promoting Priyanka is a good way to get one.

  • Dinipc

    Lol. The pawning of Kedar, Sanjay, Sameer is like icing on the cake!

  • Wanderer

    I agree with most of the things you said in this blogpost, except that I wish you had stuck to the issues vis a vis Raman pimping Priyanka for the next PM despite her obvious lack of qualifications. It is immaterial to us whether he has an infatuation with her or any other woman. Mentioning that only gives him and the Congress supporters more ammunition to say that we are making a personal attack on him, and the ludicrousness of his support for a non-qualified candidate like Priyanka takes a back-seat.

    Just my 2 cents. I do enjoy reading your blog. :-)

  • DJ

    Ok, I want to make a general argument beyond the one being argued in the post and in the comments. There seems to be a general, incorrect sense among educated people everywhere that tolerance, political correctness, diplomacy, clean words should be practiced irrespective of the opposing view point. That works most times when the opposing view point has an iota of merit. But, there is something known as right and wrong in this world, and it is the duty of every educated person to not be silent, not be diplomatic, not be shy, not be politically correct when they see something that they deem to be wrong and evil. In other words, one should be ready to call a spade a spade. Any objection to the post should come with an argument that Mr. Raman is not severely wrong, otherwise, the objections have no merit and can be construed as collusion with evil by remaining silent and tolerant of wrong ideas. In other words, please focus on the substance of the argument. I see no complaint about the main point being made in this post. And, moreover, understand that your objection means that you agree with Mr. Raman’s assertion that PG is a very capable leader in this country. Be prepared to make and defend that claim first up, if you are to object to this post.

  • Pankaj
  • mohan

    To imagine that security of India rested on shoulders of such mortals gives me the creeps . The situation would be even more frightening now given the standard of governance ! Old soldiers fade away into sunset but retired bureucrats never fade away but continue making asses of themselves !

  • LovePriyanka

    You dumb fellow should understand that if Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra becomes a Prime Minister she would hold high level discussions in her flawless English. She will also get some work down by using her charisma and charm in India. She would get written about in all the foriegn blogs and thus will spread Indian culture and heritage far and wide.

    While Mr. Modi is good watchman like guy, he is ulgy, fat and can speak English properly. He is ugly…ewww

    I agree will B.Raman. Priyanka is the midnight sun will shine gently on India. Love her tons and would go lesbian for her any day of the week.

  • sanjay

    Dr Dey, I’m not a fan of Raman. Much less a fan of the Gandhis/Vaderas. We would probably end up in a bitch-fest about how the Gandhi’s and Congress are worst tax Indians have had to pay.

    But the manner of your attack – personal, unsubstantiated character attacks – is a disgrace no matter what Raman’s opinions are. So let’s not obfuscate the issue I raised with the criminal incompetence of Gandhis/Vaderas or Raman’s opinions. In any case Raman is entitled to his opinions no matter how woolly-headed they may seem to you. That does not justify an attack on his character.

    I’m asking – demanding – that you disagree with Raman in an acceptable/agreeable manner. Stay on the level man!

  • sanjay

    @Dinipc: I think you meant pwned not pawned. Just saying. Glad you got your jollies.

    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=pwned

  • Pingback: Namo Supporters now abusing B Raman - Page 12

  • http://rashtra.in/wp/ Palahalli

    I agree with Atanu in his analysis of B Raman.

    Nothing of what Atanu has said about Raman is unsupported by Raman himself – in the latter’s numerous tweets.

    For Raman to first behave like an open book and then act wounded when another reads him aloud – is silly.

    Btw, Raman himself hasn’t minced words or stuck to niceties whilst targeting whome he thinks are Modi fans on the net.

    I’m with you Atanu Dey.

  • pax

    I disagree with Mr B Raman on all fronts but launching a such a vituperative attack on a man who has a track record of serving the nation for so long, is totally uncalled for. In case you have forgotten, he too has the right to opinion and freedom of expression just like everybody else. If you are critical of his uncritical support and his sycophancy regarding the Nehru-Gandhi clan – stay to that. Do not cross the line into criticizing his personal domain.

  • JP

    BraMan is not clear what he means by Priyanka is brightness at night. He does not mention how many lumens Priyanka outputs.

    With this limited information, Priyanka would be as ‘bright’ as what a common man in India (a villager) experiences at night. The filament barely lights up (low voltage).

    Could he have meant Priyanka has a room temperate IQ, her brain barely registers and shuts down for long periods?

  • Ravi

    Absolutely spot-on analysis sir. Yes as many pointed out above, Mr. Raman is yet another retired babu who craves one of those top Padma awards before end of his lifetime. And to think that people like him were responsible for India’s national security once depresses me.

  • http://rexzilla.livejournal.com Rex

    To all those sympathizing with Raman for ‘serving the nation’, how does that make him any different from millions of other government employees?

    What exactly has he achieved during his tenure that should be so noteworthy, and moreover, what bloody relevance does that have to the discussion at hand? Why should he be exempt from well deserved criticism?

  • A

    Atanu, I usually agree with much, if not most, of what you say. But I also agree with some of what others are saying here – you have become extremely cynical in tone lately. One can naturally understand why, but now more than ever, it is imperative that you stay on the straight and narrow here. There are many people like us who will be able to rant about the topics online or in person, but few of us have your writing skills and ability to turn these views into compelling pieces that can serve as a wonderful discussion forum. You need, more than ever now, to be our voice of reason.

    In this case, I think that the material you brought into the view is completely fair game. People complaining about personal attacks should realize that Raman is a public figure – one who has erred in a personal manner before, with huge consequences for the public!! Esp given the latter fact, it is entirely fair game to bring his personal ethics into the mix and question exactly how compromised his views are and why. But Atanu, it should have been done without the cynicism, and I think it would have been more effective that way.

  • Tuti

    Wow – This blog has stooped to the level of rediff articles. Personal attacks and even more blase attacks in the comments. You have a PhD in Economics from UCB, for crying out loud! :(

  • Ramshankar

    What personal attack? All those people bitching “personal attack, personal attack” are not point out what the personal attack is!

  • saraswathy

    We Patriotic citizens of India know Mr.B.Raman’s contributions in maintaining peace and security even at this age and we salute him. Anyone who has an ivory tower attitude and corrupt can criticize him. About padmabhushan….people who knows him awarded Padmabhushan…..years back.

  • DJ

    Why do people think that a great man cannot be criticized for a particular action? Why do we think that a person who has done a lot of good things cannot do a bad thing? Why don’t people talk about the thing in question, rather than talking about irrelevant other actions? Why do people in India not distinguish between the merits of an action, but talk only about the merits of a person? What are men in power in India stuffed shirts and unwilling to cop criticism once in a while?

  • Sheela

    True…. Great men can be criticized for a particular action. But there are worst men who were not criticized in India. Why can’t we concentrate on that inclination? Who are the worst men who kill India’s development? Who are the worst men who destroy democracy? Who are the worst men who deny human rights of innocent citizens in India? Who are the worst men who loot our public wealth? Who are the worst men who sell our nation for Anti-nationalists?

  • Sukanya

    What does Mr.Raman mean on the statement? Priyanka never entered in politics…all others are big flop.

  • Amrut

    What do u have to say about his latest column in rediff “A sad day for Salman Khurshid and India media”. I think the saddest day was his birth.