Is it better to pay more money for more electricity, or keep prices low and look forward to blackouts that will conk out offices, factories and homes in India? That is the question that lies at the heart of an ongoing debate about whether authorities should allow utilities Adani Power Ltd and Tata Power Co Ltd to raise their tariffs on existing contracts to clients, to compensate the companies for the domestic coal supply shortages and the rising cost of buying coal from overseas.

Much of it a relic from before the 1991 economic reforms that kick-started the India growth story, the country’s infrastructure is screaming out for more investment to fix pot-holed roads, modernise the railway network and build more power plants. But unable to match the spending power that the likes of China have, the Indian government has turned to the private sector to fund much of the new infrastructure it needs. Indian politicians must therefore strike a balance between allowing the private sector to make money, while at the same time protecting the interests of customers (and voters) in a country where hundreds of millions live below the poverty line.

Is it better to have state-run, pot-holed roads, or have swish six-line highways that charge a toll that becomes unaffordable to some? What’s more, to what extent should the government go to protect infrastructure firms – vying with one another for project bids – when such projects run into trouble?

At the start of April, Adani was granted permission by the federal power regulator to allow it to charge “compensatory” tariffs to existing customers in Gujarat and Haryana, after a spike in the price of Indonesian coal caused it to incur heavy losses. Tata Power won a similar ruling two weeks later. Adani has already seen the ruling challenged by the Haryana state, which argues that Adani should stick to its original agreement. That has sparked fears that the ruling – a potential game-changer for the sector that has been battered by fuel shortages and distribution losses – could get bogged down in legal battles.

The lawyer who represented Adani in the case, Amit Kapur of J. Sagar Associates, said Adani’s original bid for the project was premised on the company using domestic coal. But the mine meant for Adani never got allocated, which forced the company to rely on imported coal. When Indonesia later jacked up its prices, the plant started to incur heavy losses. Adani said in its petition it could not continue to run the plant for more than two or two-and-a-half years if it continued to bleed cash, Kapur said.

“We don’t want to profiteer out of it, but we can’t possibly continue to incur this kind of loss because it will wipe out our whole equity,“ Kapur told Reuters.

Both Adani and Tata have made similar arguments to support their case.

Is it really in India’s long term interests, they argue, to let already-built power plants shut down because of unsustainable losses? Because that means, they say, that no one will get the electricity India needs and the country will have to spend even more money building new plants that may then also be forced to shell out cash for expensive imported coal?

“By any standards, a project which is ready, on the ground and running, is far better than a project which is not even started,” a source close to Tata Power said. “It’s a no-brainer that this increase is still justified.”

(Follow Matthias on Twitter @matthi_williams )

“The CBI has become the state’s parrot. Only screaming, repeating the master’s voice,” Justice R.M. Lodha said on May 8, urging the government to strengthen the agency’s independence.

The CBI denied the accusations and emphasized its impartiality.

Reuters India Online spoke to various experts for their views on whether the CBI was indeed a “caged parrot” and if yes, how best to ensure it could withstand political pressure. Excerpts:

JOGINDER SINGH, former CBI chief

“Give it a constitutional status like the CAG, Election Commission. But if anybody is in apprehension that it will become a master, then have an oversight committee with a retired chief justice of India as the chairman, members of parliament from all sides – whatever number the government may fix here – to review its working every six months. As well as let its report be placed on the table of the parliament as is done in the case of CAG. The big question is will the government do or won’t it do? That is something which only the government can answer.”

KIRAN BEDI, activist and former police officer
“The short-listing is done by the department of personnel. It should be more open … Let them look at five years of total seniority, who’s worked at the CBI, who’s got the best of experience, pick up the best. So this is where they probably would have held the strings from the back door. That should be avoided.”

KARUNA NUNDY, Supreme Court lawyer
“Look, the CBI can’t be a free-floating independent agency. For it to not be the fiefdom of a top cop and his friends, it has to be accountable to either government or parliament. The coal fracas shows quite clearly though that different lines of accountability need to be explored, because the government’s administrative control over the CBI incentivises both parties to allow interference in investigation. The Supreme Court’s drawing of firm lines in the existing structure is entirely correct – as for a better structure of accountability, parliament can and should make that happen.”

AMULYA GANGULI, political analyst
“The problem is that it has been because of the declining standards of politicians and bureaucrats, the CBI has lost its professionalism … now it has become a caged parrot and there is a need to enable a return to professionalism which was what the Supreme Court ordered for the police also. It called for police reforms in 2006. The reforms should also be extended to all these institutions … One way will be to ensure a fixed term of a few years for the main incharge. Also, the process of nomination shouldn’t be left only in the hands of the government. The selection should also involve the opposition and also the judiciary so that men of integrity are chosen.”

D.R. KAARTHIKEYAN, former director of CBI
“I would say there is an absolute need for insulating all investigation agencies in the country, particularly the premier investigative agency CBI, from any external undue influence or interference … How is it done in the USA and UK? Nobody questions the impartiality, integrity, objectivity of the investigations done in USA or UK. We must try to find out all those instruments of legislation or executive orders that are issued that makes it possible for the FBI to function with objectivity and impartiality … Appointment of the director of CBI has to be done in the most transparent manner. A transparent process should be adopted, then you give him absolute authority and make him accountable to the court or by way of periodical reports to the parliament.”

PRAKASH SINGH, former BSF chief and police reforms campaigner

“CBI should be given statutory status comparable to that of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CBI director should be appointed by a collegium comprising the prime minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition.”

(Ankush Arora and Aditya Kalra contributed to this post)

(Follow Shashank on Twitter @shashankchouhan)

GAINERS

Tata Motors: The automaker’s stock surged 8.15 percent in the week ending May 10, making it the best Sensex performer. Though the stock is still flat in 2013, it has gained nearly 15 percent since April. However, Ambareesh Baliga of Edelweiss Financial Services advises caution: “Tata Motors’ overdependence on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to negate the Indian underperformance makes it a risky investment at this juncture especially in view of lower margins at JLR”

Hindalco: Shares of India’s largest aluminium producer surged 8 percent this week. The stock extended gains throughout the week after rising 3.5 percent on Monday, on expectations of better realizations after copper prices rose more than 6 percent last Friday.

ITC: Shares in India’s biggest cigarette maker ended the week with gains of 6.7 percent, after touching an all-time high on Friday. Investors have placed long positions in ITC futures, indicating they expect gains to continue.

Hero MotoCorp: This was another auto stock which was among the top five performers, gaining 5.9 percent for the week to end at 1705 rupees. The stock had fallen to 1434 rupees on April 15, but has gained nearly 19 percent since then. The company reported better-than-expected results in the last week of April, but sales growth has slowed amid rising competition, denting its market share.

TCS: Shares in India’s largest software services provider rose 5.34 percent this week, taking its gains for the month to 8.5 percent. Technology shares rose during the week on value buying after the recent selloff. Cognizant’s strong outlook also boosted IT stocks later in the week.

LOSERS: On the losing side, Coal India and Sun Pharma ended with losses of more than 5 percent this week. Shares of NTPC, India’s largest power utility, fell 2.5 percent, while Jindal Steel dropped 2.1 percent. Cipla ended down nearly 1 percent.

(Ankush Arora contributed to this post)

For more than 30 years, Mike Pandey has been a man with a mission. In its special issue on Heroes of the Environment in 2009, Time magazine credited the maker of wildlife documentaries with efforts to protect “everything from whale sharks to elephants, vultures to medicinal plants.”

In 1994, Pandey became the first Asian film-maker to win the Wildscreen Panda Award, better known as the Green Oscar, for his film on the capture of wild elephants. He also won the award twice in the next decade.

In April this year, Pandey was honoured at an event to mark 100 years of Indian cinema. His latest film, a docudrama on India’s dwindling tiger numbers, has a Bollywood connection – and features Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham.

Pandey spoke to Reuters India Online on making documentaries, why he stayed away from Bollywood cinema all this while and how his latest effort “The Return of the Tiger” hit a stumbling block in Madhya Pradesh. Excerpts from the interview.

Q: You started out as a documentary film-maker in the 1970s when nobody was aware of conservation in India. How tough was it back then?

A: I think it was very, very difficult because there was no funding or support available. Even bureaucratic support was missing because if there are no whales in their record books, they said then what am I talking about (about conserving them)? There could be no funding. I am glad that I was here at the right time and the right place. We were stubborn, we did not give up. It was frustrating at times because many times there was a red tape wall between you and your subjects.

Q: Why did you choose and actively pursue documentary film-making when Bollywood was an option?

A: I am a student of serious cinema and that was missing in Bollywood. People were looking for box-office masala hits and fantasies and song and drama. I think I would have preferred to make films that were closer to life rather than selling dreams and fantasies with people running around trees and playing Mickey Mouse … Documentaries offered me that platform where I could make films of substance. Films are really a perception of a director’s perception of life and they need to be thought-provoking. So I wanted to make films like the Guru Dutts and Bimal Roys. They were the giants who were making films that I would have liked to make.

Q: Being unpredictable, does nature allow a perfect film to be made?

A: I think making a feature film is very easy because if you miss a shot, you can reshoot it; there can be 50 retakes. But when you are making a documentary like “The Last Migration”, there are wild elephants being captured and the camera is on your shoulder, there is no tripod, there are no rehearsals. You don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s when your experience pays off. If an elephant comes tumbling down crushing through the undergrowth … and if you haven’t got the shot, you can’t ask the elephant to go back and do a retake. You have lost it. So if you aren’t there on your toes and you can’t pre-empt and you don’t know enough about jungle craft or behaviour of animals, then you can’t make a wildlife film.

Q: What is your take on the stand-off between various ministries and the environment ministry on the development and conservation debate?

A: Development cannot be at the cost of environment. We all, whether it is the prime minister or a farmer, we need the environment to survive. We are not going to eat iron ore or diamonds all the time, we need food and water. For too long, the world has been moving on at a mindless speed. There has to be a scientific approach to development.

Q: Where have you seen climate and wildlife being affected by development activities?

A: Look at Goa, Karnataka – the mining activity there has left thousands of villages without water. If you look at Himachal Pradesh, thousands of farmers have moved to higher altitudes because their crops don’t grow at lower altitudes any more (because of climate change). Leopards and tigers have been killed in jungles because of which monkeys and wild boar population has grown, creating trouble for farmers … These are all indicators that we are abusing and not using (nature).

Q: Why isn’t the documentary format more popular in India?

A: Films need their distribution system. Documentaries are value-based, meaningful tools that can help inform and empower but, just like education, they may not be entertaining. There was a system in India where documentaries used to be shown before every film show by the Films Division but there were a lot of protests. Lots of people just wanted to see dance and dramas and even film-makers wanted that time for advertisements. Even the state broadcaster has become a revenue-generating channel. Why can’t the concerned ministries like health, culture, etc. support the channel so that it can run and carry information to people where it is required. There is a need for political will and corporate support like in other countries.

Q: Now you are making “Return of the Tiger” with Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham. Tell us about this project.

A: John Abraham is a dear friend of mine; he loves animals. We have been working for elephants in Maharashtra. One day, we were talking and thought that the tiger has been dying … despite it being a criminal offence to kill the tiger. So we thought the best thing to do is to inform people why it is important to save the tiger. “The Return of the Tiger” would be a 90-minute docudrama which John is producing. Amitabh Bachchan offered his services and support saying he would like to be involved in whichever capacity, that he would lend his voice, chase poachers in a jeep if required. So his voice will be there and John will be an anchor and a link.

The unfortunate part is we have been trying for 2-1/2 years to get permission to shoot in Madhya Pradesh and the government, despite the fact that we are an NGO and have a track record like no other in the world, wants to charge us 45,000 rupees (about $825) per camera, which makes it 85,000 rupees (about $1560) per day in filming fees. The paradox is the government itself is not doing anything to protect or conserve or speak out for the tiger. When I am trying to do something positive which will benefit my country and planet, stumbling blocks are being created. Of all the projects that I have worked upon, I think “Return of the Tiger” is the toughest because I have to deal with humans.

Q: As a film-maker how do you look at the journey of movies as Bollywood completes 100 years this year?

A: We started making films almost along with the Western world but with the British Raj being there, there were limitations of equipment etc. and post-independence equipment was not so easily available. But today we are at par with the best, we have come far. Even with sub-standard equipment, we have churned out lots of films which are powerful. Today we are the largest film industry in the world, producing almost 3000 films a year. Times have changed, technology has revolutionised everything. We can see our people winning the Oscars. In the next 10 years, we will see a sea change with a new generation of films being made. I feel very optimistic with the new crop of filmmakers.

(Follow Shashank on Twitter @shashankchouhan )

By Mansi Thapliyal

Atika, 10, woke up early one morning in August 2008 and was sent by her mother to buy a few items from a nearby shop. She returned and told her mother she would prepare tea for her father before quickly going to use a communal toilet close to her house. She never returned.

Ambika was a feisty 15-year-old high school student who took wrestling classes. Her mother returned home from work late in the night on October 10, 2010. She woke up the next morning and found her daughter missing.

Atika and Ambika are among the thousands of children who go missing from India's streets, schools and homes every year.

Following the case of a 5-year-old girl in Delhi who went missing and was then allegedly raped by a neighbor, I chose to find out what happens to girls who go missing and the struggles their parents go through to find them.

According to a report by Delhi-based child rights NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan, from January 1, 2013-April 20, 2013 there has been approximately 680 cases of missing children in Delhi, 65 percent of whom are girls. In most cases girls are either forced into the sex trade or trafficked to placement agencies to work as domestic workers.

For four days, I met parents of girls who had gone missing. Every story was different, every story was equally sad. I spent hours with them, listening to their harrowing tales, understanding the grief and misery these families were going through. Only then did I turn my camera on to take pictures. Despite retelling their stories again and again over many years to hundreds of people, the mothers I met still cried their eyes out for their missing daughters when they spoke to me.

The family of Tyaba, who went missing in Delhi at the age of three in 2009, have searched across the country, visiting adoption homes, red light districts and orphanages in all of India's major cities.

Other families, however, simply don't have the means to actively look for their missing daughters, like Mamta's family from Bihar, India's poorest state, who work in Delhi as laborers. They lost their seven-year-old daughter Bharti in April this year. Living on a construction site where they work, they earn around $4 a day and have to rely on the police, who have a reputation for being inactive and corrupt when handling such cases.

I found that parents were keeping memories of their missing daughters alive through the objects left behind. The mother of Atika, the 10-year-old who went missing in 2008, continues to stitch embroidery for her daughter's "bistra" - a bedsheet gifted to Muslim brides on their wedding day - hoping that one day she'll return.

Nothing can surpass the agony and desperation that has become their lives. The haunted looks on their faces speak of pain which is beyond all comprehension. I'm not sure if my pictures will bring these missing daughters back to their parents, but maybe they'll make people stop and think about the next time they see a girl begging on the side of the street or a young maid working inside a home.

It's time to stop being silent spectators and take steps in the right direction or else who knows if the nightmare might come knocking on our doors...

Are they parliamentarians, or do they just play ones on TV? After pushing through proposals on foreign investment in the retail and the aviation sector late last year, India’s elected representatives apparently have decided to get as little done as possible during the current session.

On television, it’s another matter. Newsroom studios appear to be the preferred forum for debating problems and legislation that normally would be the province of parliament. Those include recent demands by the coalition government’s prime opponent, the Bharatiya Janata Party, for the resignations of the prime minister, law minister and the railway minister over accusations that the government interfered with an investigation of improper allocation of coal mine licenses and certain other bribery allegations.

The Lok Sabha, or “people’s house,” has repeatedly adjourned in recent days, likely making it one of the least productive in its history. That’s bad if you want to pass bills, but it does help clear politicians’ schedules for the nightly news discussion programs. And that is not a bad thing, depending on whom you ask.

“The effort is to inform the public,” said BJP spokeswoman Nirmala Sitharaman. “We don’t think even for a minute we’ll accept this charge that we are disrupting parliament … This government wants to have a debating club run without any accountability”.

Here’s a sample of what substitutes exist for debate in the Lok Sabha (May 6, prime time shows):

Times Now
Show Header - Food Bill vs Railgate, Populism vs Controversy? Speaker of the House (i.e. the anchor) - Arnab Goswami; Participants – Bhalchandra Mungekar, Congress MP; Piyush Goyal, BJP MP; Subramanian Swamy, Janata Party Chief

Headlines Today
Show Header – Dr. Dolittle Should Go? Speaker of the House – Rahul Kanwal; Participants – Meenakshi Lekhi, national spokeswoman, BJP; Mani Shankar Iyer, Congress MP; Subramanian Swamy

CNN-IBN
Show Header - Ministers embarrass government; Speaker of the house – Rajdeep Sardesai; Participants – Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Congress MP; Nirmala Sitharaman, national spokeswoman, BJP

This kind of ersatz public debate taking place on the airwaves is not funny, but “tragic,” said political analyst Amulya Ganguli. “This is part of the cynical attitude which marks Indian politicians of all parties.”

Rajdeep Sardesai, anchor and editor of CNN-IBN’s prime-time show, disagreed, as you might expect. “I think a prime time news show is different from parliament … a prime time news show gives the MPs a platform to represent their viewpoint in a manner that parliament sadly no longer allows them.”

There are various reasons that the BJP or other opposition parties might have to disrupt parliament. Experts say that they lack the numbers to defeat the Congress party-led ruling coalition by sheer votes, leaving them to resort to technical tactics – or general chaos. That in theory allows for back-room negotiations that could produce more orderly votes that go in the direction that some parties want. The current budget session of parliament ends on May 10.

The trouble? It endangers the passage of bills that are important for the economy at a time when a high current account deficit, inflation fears and a poor debt ratings outlook threaten the country. Various bills such as the land acquisition bill, food security bill and the ones which propose to increase foreign investment in pension and insurance sectors are stuck in parliament.

In the end, TV debates amount to publicity stunts, said D H Pai Panandiker, head of the RPG Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank. “Things are going to go on like this … I am not expecting much to come out even of the monsoon session.”

(You can follow Aditya on Twitter @adityayk)

Fashion designer Ritu Kumar was closest to the brief, naming just two personal favourites. Her choices: “Umrao Jaan” and “Mughal-E-Azam“. Both films were in her words “classical for music, costumes and ethos.”

For writer Amish Tripathi, “Mughal-E-Azam“, “Guide” and “Sholay” reigned supreme in Bollywood. Pressed to reveal his all-time favourite, the author of the Shiva trilogy reluctantly chose the Dev Anand film based on R.K. Narayan’s novel.

“If I have to, have to, have to pick, ideally it’s all three but if I am forced to pick, perhaps Guide would be a step ahead, a very small step ahead,” said Tripathi. “Of course, it’s a great story and it’s entertaining and it’s very well made but it has some nice philosophical messages as well, which I like … it’s such a brilliant mix of entertainment and philosophy.”

Former TV actress and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Smriti Irani sent in four favourites, including two films that starred Amitabh Bachchan.

“Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, Agneepath, Chupke Chupke, Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak … because they each told a good story with great actors who displayed a variety of emotions with such finesse,” said Irani.

For image management guru Dilip Cherian, Anurag Kashyap’s crime epic ”Gangs of Wasseypur“ is his choice from recent times.

“The story is riveting, the characters continually interesting and the execution is definitely world-class … I was also very impressed with the cast – none of them known actors. But they were brilliant in rather demanding roles,” he said.

Kiran Bedi, India’s first woman police officer and now anti-corruption activist, picked “Lagaan“, “Chak De India!“, “3 Idiots” and “Peepli Live” among her favourite films.

“Lagaan” also featured in Biocon Chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s shortlist for being “innovative and engaging – a belief in one’s self and team” and “Aamir (Khan) was great”.

Mazumdar-Shaw, who says she’s not the typical Bollywood movie buff, also chose nine other films as her favourites. “Guide” (for being offbeat and avant-garde and featuring Waheeda Rehman as the unconventional woman); “Anand” and “Safar” (two great stories around the brave fight against cancer beautifully portrayed and acted); “English Vinglish” (most thoughtful and sensitive film about women and their untapped potential); “Swades” (a great Shah Rukh Khan film on changing rural India with technology) and others such as “Sholay“, “Aradhana“, “Ankur” and “Sangam“.

Karan Johar, the director of Bollywood hits such as “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” and “My Name Is Khan“, listed “Pyaasa” and “Kabhie Kabhi” among his favourites.

“I think there is just something about tragic films – something strangely satisfying about them,” said Johar. “You know what they say, nothing like having a good cry during a film – that’s what it is.”

“For me Pyaasa is that film. Kabhie Kabhie is just what romance means to me – that for me will always be the ultimate romantic film,” he added.

What about you? Which Indian films would be your choice for the greatest film ever? If you need help, here’s a list of 100 films which we thought had a chance to win that honour. Don’t forget to comment.

(With input from Shashank Chouhan, Sankalp Phartiyal and Shilpa Jamkhandikar)

By Danish Siddiqui

The Hindi film industry or Bollywood can make a star, a household name out of anyone overnight. It can bring instant money, fame and the fan-following of millions from across continents.

Bollywood is an addiction for many that attracts thousands of aspirants to the breeding grounds, the city of Mumbai, everyday. I was keen to look at this other side of the glamour world. The side that entails the struggle to enter the world of aspiring dreamers and their struggles to become a star.

There is no time limit to becoming a nationwide sensation, a star in Bollywood. As one of the aspirants told me it's a gamble you take, forgetting all your worries about the results.

To shoot this story I had to do a lot of research. A lot has been written about these 'strugglers' but they haven't been photographed yet, as ironically, they are camera-shy. Nobody wants to have a record of their struggle because they believe one day when they make it big, these records could be an embarrassment.

During the course of my assignment, I met at least thirty people who had different, amazing stories to tell about their struggles, but they had a common goal - to become a superstar.

I met 32-year-old Ram Pratap Verma, a Bollywood aspirant on one of my research trips to the beach where he was practicing gymnastics and martial arts. The first thing I noticed about him was his bag. The bag had 'Journey' written across on it. Ram had made the journey to tinsel town eight years ago from his small village, about 1500 kilometers (932 miles) from Mumbai.

Ram and I met a couple of times at a roadside tea stall. It was very difficult for me to convince him that I wanted to document his life as a Bollywood aspirant. After almost two dozen cups of tea I finally managed to convince him. I still wasn't sure whether he would be himself in front of me. But like him, I took a gamble too.

Ram had his first brush with acting when he ran away from home to escape the beatings of his elder brother, and joined a local company of actors who performed religious plays in nearby villages. He lodged with them for two years before returning home.

For the first few days on my assignment, I didn’t take any pictures of Ram. I would just take the camera out and pretend like I was clicking. The whole exercise was to test Ram, to see whether he changed his behavior in front of the camera or acted normally. I noticed he felt conscious. I followed him everywhere with my camera for one week without capturing a single frame. Sure enough, after a while, Ram started feeling comfortable around me and the camera.

I would eat with Ram at roadside eateries, attend his training sessions, and auditions, hang out with him at the tailoring shop where he worked or the city park where he slept at nights.

I actually started shooting pictures of Ram about one month after meeting him. Our relationship had changed from a photographer and subject to friends. This helped me get a lot of access into in his life. Like visiting the tailoring shop where he sewed old clothes for half a day to earn money to travel to auditions, or watching as he saved lunch money by eating at a temple during community meals.

I noticed that Ram carried his home, his life, inside his bag which contained two shirts, one pair of trousers, two pairs of track pants, two t-shirts, a few documents and some toiletries. He had permission to sleep in a park from a local politician at whose birthday celebration he'd danced. Every day Ram practiced his martial arts and gymnastics on one of the famous beaches in Mumbai in the hope that someday a celebrity Bollywood producer or director would spot him while taking a walk or jog.

Many big Bollywood names have lived this kind of life and struggled hard before stardom beckoned. Ram draws inspiration from them. To keep his passion alive, he makes it a point every week to watch at least one film at a single screen cinema, where the ticket prices are cheaper compared to multiplexes. The giant screen at the cinema keeps his hopes alive.

If Ram's is a struggle, this was also one of the most challenging stories I have worked on so far. Right from getting access to subjects or locations to photographing the struggle, or as the subjects suspected, their ‘failure’. What kept me going was the urge to tell the behind-the-scenes story of Bollywood. It required immense patience and sensitivity. But my biggest take-away from this assignment has been never get disheartened or scared from attempting to tell a story which is difficult. Dreaming big is quite regular stuff for many out there, I've learnt.

(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily those of Thomson Reuters Corp.)

Citizens First: those are the two words at the top of the Delhi Police department’s website. An alternative could be: “first come, first served.”

I called the stalker line after receiving some text messages and telephone calls that made me feel unsafe. The upshot: a dispatcher routed my call to three police stations, none of which have a record of the complaint. Furthermore, it will take several days to get back to me with the results of any investigation. This is happening when the police are under intense criticism for not doing enough to prevent rape, harassment and assault, not to mention reports of their views on women. This latest incident was not an inspiring episode.

Here’s what happened:

April 28-29: I receive anonymous calls from different numbers on my mobile phone. I receive two text messages from one of the numbers. Here is what they said:

Jab ho jaye mohabbat to Dil sambhalta hai nahi,

Wapas lotne ka rasta milta hai nahi,

Koi lakh bhulaye apne Dil se magar,

Dil mein rehne wala Dil se nikalta nahi. Send of I LOVE YOU,

(It is difficult to control the heart when you fall in love,

Difficult to find a way back,

As much as one may try to erase

One who lives in the heart, does not leave. Send of I LOVE YOU,)

And:

Aasu Nikale Teri to Aankhe Meri ho,

Dil Dharke Teri to Dharkan Meri Ho,

Khuda Kare ki Hum Dono ka Rishta Itani Ghahari Ho,

Ki Mere Bachche ki Ma Bane Aap

to Mehanat Meri Ho

(If the tears are yours, may the eyes be mine,

if your heart beats, may the beat be mine,

May god make our relation so deep,

that you be the mother of my child

due to my hard work (on you))

I call the Delhi police department’s women’s anti-stalking helpline. A constable takes my name, number and address. She says she will forward it to the local police station. I get no call back.

April 30: I call the helpline again. The operator tells me that my complaint “must have been forwarded to the relevant station. Please check with them.” She gives me the number for Model Town Police Station. The constable there says no one received a complaint the night before. She also said that I should be under the jurisdiction of the Maurice Nagar police station, which is 2.2 kilometers from where I live. The Model Town station is 600 meters away.

Maurice Nagar: no record, no luck. Call the Mukherjee Nagar station instead. That’s my jurisdiction, a constable tells me.

Mukherjee Nagar police station, 3.4 kilometers from my house: again, nothing. An officer tells me, “galti ho gayi hogi unse, aap aapni complaint to bataiyye” – “They might’ve have made a mistake, tell us what your complaint is about.” They ask me to register a complaint.

Sub-Inspector Subhash comes to my apartment to take a written report. He promises to give me a stamped complaint letter within two hours.

I call the women’s helpline again to complain about my report apparently going missing. The dispatcher refuses to tell me the name of the constable I spoke to the night before. She also won’t tell me her name. She says, “RTI kar lijiye. Naam nahi bata sakte kisi ka, dekhiye hum aapko apna naam to nahi bata saktey hain.” “File a Right to Information request. I cannot give you any names.” Right.

May 1: I call Sub-Inspector Subhash. He says he sent someone to deliver the complaint to my house hours ago, and is surprised it hasn’t reached me. He blames thin staffing. I asked for it to come before 2:30 p.m. because I had to leave after that. It arrived at 5 p.m.

May 2, 5:40 a.m.: The stalker calls nine times.

1 p.m.: I tell Subhash that I’m still getting calls and SMS messages. He says he filed the complaint, and that the department has four or five other complaints to work on as well. It will take four business days to handle mine, not the two that it was supposed to take. I ask him why: “Main busy tha, mere paas aur bhi kaam hain. Har cheez ka ek procedure hota hai. Main aapko accountable nahi hunh. Aur bhi behinein aur ma-ein hain jinki complaints hoti hain. Jab kuch ispe response aaega tab aapko bata denge.”

Or: “I was busy. I have other things to do as well. Everything has a procedure. I am not accountable to you. There are many other sisters and mothers whose complaints I have to look into. When there is a response on this, I will let you know.”

I call the station house officer to escalate the matter, and ask what they would do if that delay proved to be more than enough time for a stalker to pay me a visit in person. He echoes the bit about similar complaints. At this point, I’m sure that I want to write about this experience, so I tell him I’m a journalist and plan to write a story. He mumbles something about swift action and getting back to me A.S.A.P.

It took me 12 hours to get my complaint properly registered. I’m awaiting word from the police. The nasty and weird messages keep coming. Here are two more examples:

My Dear Girl Friend Good Morning. What are you Doing? I Love You. Mai aap se payar karta hu,

And:

Sab se Pahle Use kis karo,

Phir Bed par Lita Do ,

Phir Tange Upar karke ,

Niche Hath Lagakar Dekho ,

Ager Bebi Ne Su kiya Hai to

Daipar Chenj kar do,

(First of all kiss her,

then lay her down on a bed

then after lifting her legs

put your hand under and see

If the baby has peed.

Change the diaper)

I can’t be the only person dealing with this kind of behaviour. And even though this may turn out to be a harmless prank, not every case may be so benign. If this is routine treatment, then it can hardly be a surprise to discover that people in India are still angry and that little has changed since last December.

UPDATE: They say it’s all about whom you know.

I called the police again after hearing nothing from the Mukherjee Nagar police station, and learned that there was no new information for me. Then, last Friday, a contact of a friend of mine forwarded my story to Neeraj Kumar, Delhi’s police commissioner.

That made a difference. I’ve received a bunch of calls, including from Special Commissioner TN Mohan. Someone from the women’s helpline then asked me for details about my complaint, which of course I’d given already.

I also got a call from Arti Sharma of the Crime Branch, who gave me her personal number and said that I could call her about anything regarding the enquiry into the calls and messages, which indeed has been initiated.

My main question now is: how would my situation look if I didn’t have a friend of a friend?