Are they joking or just plain daft........

As Indian students in Australia cower and their parents in India, pray for their safety, the chief of police at Melbourne, says that Indian's are attacked, as they are perceived, as soft targets, for being passive......Is the officer joking or is he just plain daft?
Is he suggesting that Indian student's in Australia, disengage from their studies and indulge in activities that would get dumb, racial bullies off their backs?
While the Australian's would like us to be live otherwise, their balance sheet in terms of treatment of people who are culturally different from themselves is appalling and disgraceful.
Their treatment of the ship Tampa, its Captain Arne Rinnan, and Afghan refugees is an example.
Indian students travelling to Australia, for further studies, must very carefully examine their options, in going down under.
The Govt. of India, must issue a travel advisory, warning its citizens travelling to Australia, and must make it clear to the Govt. of Australia that continuing attacks on Indian's will attract suitable consequences.
As for Capt.Rinnan & his ship the Tampa, its a real interesting story & should appear on this blog over the next few days.
The latest is that, India on Friday summoned Australian High Commissioner John McCarthy to the External Affairs Ministry to lodge an official concern about the recent spate of racial attacks on Indian students studying in Australia and that such attacks must cease fortwith.
We shall see..............

Zoroastrianism!

A few days ago, while, in class, I talked about our country's great diversity, an aspect of which is India's religious diversity. I also mentioned that, India has a small but significant population of Parsee's or Zoroastrians, who migrated to India, centuries ago from what is today Iran, in order to preserve their religious identity in face of a spreading wave of Islam.

I was rather surprised to see that many of the students in class that day, had no idea about this community.

So what is Zoroastrianism?

Zoroastrianism is the one of the oldest religions in the world. It began between 1,400 and 1,000 B.C. in Persia when Prince Spitama left his royal duties and searched for enlightenment. It is said that after fifteen long years, he had a dazzling vision. A divine being called Ahura Mazda gave him the name Zarathustra. Ahura Mazda also gave him a revolutionary teaching about one god that would change the ancient world. Fire became the symbol for Ahura Mazda because of its brilliance and energy. 2 Zarathustra began preaching his new religion, but things didn't go smoothly at first because life was hard for the people of Persia. They lived in a rocky, rugged place. Their tribes had to wander over the dry Iranian plain to herd their animals. It was practically impossible to grow their crops. The one thing they enjoyed was worshipping their many gods and offering animal sacrifices. Sometimes, they used plants to become intoxicated while they offered their sacrifices. Zarathustra challenged them to turn their attention to Ahura Mazda, the one god. He preached against animal sacrifice and the use of drugs. The struggling people told him to get lost. They didn't like his fiery message! 3 The fiery prophet's big break came when he converted King Vishtaspa, ruler of present-day Iran. The king accepted Zarathustra's ideas about one god, which were revolutionary for that time. No one knows exactly what made King Vishtaspa like Zarathustra's ideas, but one story says that Zarathustra healed the king's favorite horse! In any case, the king and his court were converted. According to legends, three angels came to the court to celebrate. 4 After Vishtaspa's conversion, Zarathustra traveled around Persia to spread his message. In between preaching and traveling, the prophet married (several times) and had many children. His youngest daughter married Vishtaspa's Prime Minister, Jamaspa. After the prophet's death at the hand of a priest of the old religion, Jamaspa took Zarathustra's place.

There is hardly a discipline or human endeavour in which the Parsis have not demonstrated excellence. The armed forces, industry, science, medicine, sports, politics, philanthrophy, you name it, and a Parsi contribution will be conspicuous.
The first elected Indian member of the British Parliament in 1892 was Dr. Dadabhoy Naoroji - a Parsi. Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was elected, on several occasions, President of the Indian National Congress, the Bombay Corporation and Bombay Presidency Association. The revolutionary Madam Bhikhaiji Cama was the first Indian (and Parsi) to unfurl the Indian National flag in Germany (1907).
The Wadias were master-builders, while the Tatas gave India not just its first steel industry, but also hydro-electricity. Most of these families who generated wealth through industrial development put back the wealth in trust for the welfare of the people. The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, for example, gave India its first Institute of Science in Bangalore, the first cancer hospital in Bombay, the first institute of social sciences, the first institute of fundamental research and a National Centre for the Performing Arts.
The British Government granted Baronetcy and knighthood on three Parsis - Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, Sir Dinshaw M. Petit and Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, an honour which has no parallel in Indian history. Dr. K.N. Bahadurjee was the first Indian to pass the M.D. examination in London and worked tirelessly during the plague in Bombay, laying down his life at the age of 38. Dr. Rustom Jal Vakil has been referred to, in international journals, as "the father of Indian cardiology".
India's first and only Field Marshal has been Sam Maneckshaw. Admiral Jal Cursetji has also been Chief of Naval Staff, while Air-Marshal Minoo Engineer was the most highly decorated air-marshal in Indian air-force history.
India's first Atomic Research Centre is named after Dr. Homi Bhabha - a brilliant Parsi scientist, while Zubin Mehta is a household name all over the world as far as Western classical music is concerned.

Sri Lanka! A second innings.

A few years ago I spent a couple on months at Colombo,with my wife. My ship was under repair at the Colombo Shipyard and it allowed us to explore Sri Lanka to a fair extent. The hospitality was magnificent and on occasions left us embarrassed.
We made a few friends along the way. Jayalath and his wife Shyamali, were in touch with us for many years and have since moved to Canada.
One historical site, of great antiquity, that left a lasting impression on me was the fort at Sigiriya, built on a steep hill.
While in Sri Lanka, the subject of the LTTE came up on occasion and views were rigid and polarized. As a neutral observer, I always felt sad that a wonderful community and peace loving people, had brought the dogs of war, on to themselves. I felt more sad that India was looked upon by many in Sri Lanka as the chief architect of the LTTE.
With the LTTE vanquished, let us hope that the Sri Lankans, pick up the pieces, integrate the Tamils and get on with life.
Sri Lanka is too good a country to be wasted on terror. They have been willed a second innings and I hope they bat better for themselves, both the Sinhalese & Tamils. Thankfully the majority Sinhala community seems to have learnt their lesson and there is a spirit of reconciliation. Only time will tell, but if this is true and the peace lasts, Prabhakaran would have done his duty for his fellow Tamils.
The following is a short piece on Prabhakaran, that appeared in Time magazine a few days ago.

The rest of the world might never understand the violence Velupillai Prabhakaran stood for, but its imprint on Sri Lanka is wide and deep. For 26 years, the elusive leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had waged war with the government to win an independent homeland, or eelam, for the island's Tamil minority. The struggle claimed more than 70,000 lives--including, on May 18, Prabhakaran's. The government says he was killed, along with 17 of his trusted lieutenants, while fleeing an army ambush.
Prabhakaran, 54, was born to a middle-class family on the Jaffna Peninsula. Incensed by discrimination against Tamils and radicalized by a militant grade-school teacher, Prabhakaran founded the LTTE in 1976, a year after a group he headed claimed responsibility for killing Jaffna's mayor. By 1983 the guerrilla movement--which pioneered suicide bombings and the recruitment of child soldiers--escalated the fighting into a civil war.
At the height of his power earlier this decade, Prabhakaran led a de facto government that controlled vast swaths of territory and boasted its own systems of taxes, roads and courts. As the army closed in, he allegedly used thousands of Tamil civilians as human shields. By the final days, just 250 LTTE members remained. They died too, along with the dream of eelam.

The Pirate & the Common Man!

Piracy on the high seas is on the rise & I receive questions about this scourge fairly frequently from land lubbers.

However, how does piracy affect a normal citizen of the world?

Piracy threat increases insurance premium


Small and mid-sized shipping companies in the country are facing rough weather.

In addition to the setback in business following the recession, a spurt in piracy in the Gulf of Aden has become another major cause for concern in the shipping sector.The Gulf of Aden is considered to be the busiest sea route connecting the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

In view of the rising incidents of pirate attacks along this route, shipping firms will have to pay higher premiums for cover along this route.Capt Ajay Puri, Founder & Director, Skyrise Shipping, a mid-sized shipping company in New Delhi, says, “Repeated incidents of piracy in the Gulf of Aden in the last eight months have led to hijacking of several ships and delayed consignments. The big, small and mid-sized players in the shipping sector are facing the heat due to the recent turn of events. The decision to hike premium rates by insurance companies will come as a major blow to the shipping firms already reeling under an acute liquidity crisis.”With the menace of piracy persisting for over a year now, most insurance companies have increased their premium rates by over ten times. As per the revised rates, a shipping company will have to pay an extra premium of $10,000 to $20,000 per trip through the Gulf of Aden to cover the risk of hijacking.Manish Kothari, Director, Kothari Insurance Consultancy, opines, “In most cases, it has been found that the pirates in the region demand a ransom of nearly $2 million for larger ships. Even after intense negotiations, captive ships are rarely freed at a price less than $10,000. Naturally, it is not possible for small and mid-sized shipping companies to pay such huge amounts. Furthermore, they hesitate to report piracy attacks due to the fear of having to pay higher insurance premiums in the future.”Meanwhile, shipping companies are counting on leading maritime nations to take stronger measures to curb piracy on high seas.

However, while the most powerful nations of the world have a military presence in the area, pirates seem to hijack ships at will.

So, now if you have to pay the extra rupee for your wheat or petrol, you know whom to blame it on!

Buffet Etiquettes

Over the just concluded Sunday, I was invited to dine at a dinner engagement, by a distant relative, whose daughter was marrying one of the many software engineers, who seem to populate Bangalore.

This short piece is neither about software engineers or even Bangalore, but more about the dinner which was a buffet.

The menu was various and interesting, but the place resembled a mela. I'm sure you get what I mean.

Behaviour at public spaces is a reflection of our culture & I could not resist placing this piece, on my blog.

Buffets are a cost-effective and quick way to serve meals to large numbers and hence, extremely popular at corporate events and in restaurants. While buffets may seem like a free-for-all, the rules of etiquette still apply.
Queues at a buffet can be annoying, as everyone wants to serve themselves first but do politely wait your turn instead of sneaking up to the counter. Wait for the food to be replenished instead of scraping the dishes. Eating while waiting your turn or serving is avoidable behavior. Buffets serve larger numbers and are not to be compared with the experience associated with fine-dining in a sit-down meal. While standing in the queue, stop complaining about the food or caterer or the long wait as it is impolite to the host. Instead use this time to network or chat with the others waiting with you.
Use the serving spoon or tongs to serve yourself and not your fingers. Resist the urge to pop that papad directly into your mouth, no matter how tempting it looks. One serving spoon per dish is provided and should be replaced on the holder or back in the dish. Avoid accidents and spillages by bringing your plate close to the serving dish. When deciding what to eat, don't sniff the food, instead take a small amount and return if you like it. For hygiene and safety purposes, avoid leaning over the dishes while serving yourself.
Avoid sampling all dishes and over-loading your plate. Instead, exercise choice and serve limited portions of select dishes, such that the food is neatly arranged on your plate and presents an appetizing picture.

Buffet Courtesies: Buffets are self-serve meals but the buffet counter staff needs to be thanked if they serve you. The clearance staff have an extremely tough job and need to be thanked when taking away the used plate from you.

Sinking Captains!

The other day, during, an interview , a youngster, on completion of his interview, picked me out of the panel and asked me, 'Why does a Captain sink with his ship'? There was much amusement while I tried to search for an adequate reply.

Good question. I told him that it was a Naval tradition and sent him on his way.

Captains who have gone down with their ships range from Captain. EJ.Smith of the Titanic to Captain Mulla of the Indian destroyer Khukri. Both were known to be wonderful Captains but were unlucky to lose their crafts on the high seas.

A more complete explanation would be as follows.......

1.Customs and Traditions:
There are unwritten customs and traditions in the Navy which are followed by mariners since centuries. Some of them are hoisting Church Pennant, Dress ing the Ship, measurements by Fathom, giving Gun Salutes, Manning the Rails to give three cheers to honour the distinguished guests, Wardrobe Room. Captain preferring to sink with the ship is also one form of customs and traditions followed in the Navy. You may recollect on such occasions, that a pilot of the aircraft most of the times ejects, as there is no such custom and tradition to be followed.
2.Perform or Perish attitude:
The captain being the hard task master, when fails to perform ie when he is not able to protect the ship and ships crew prefers to perish, i.e. he prefers to sink with the ship.
3.Moral responsibility:
Whatsoever may be the reason for the ship to sink, the captain doesn’t blame anyone till his last breath, but ensures that the ships crew is saved or rescued. He owes the moral responsibility for the mishap and prefers to sink with the ship. Such an act of owing moral responsibility is rarely seen in corporate bosses or head of an organisation.
4.Setting an example:
The captain being the No1 in the ship, has to be an example to others. He is the captain as long as the ship floats, but when the ship sinks he is no more a captain. Hence when the ship sinks he prefers to sink with the ship.
5.Mark of respect:
When the ship sinks, the captain sinks with the ship as an act of mark of respect to the ship he commanded.
6.Can’t live without his Lady Love:
The captain can not live without his Ladylove i.e. when his ship sinks. Ship is generally feminine. You may see my earlier post on this subject.
7.My ship and My command attitude:
The captain of a ship, functionally acts as a dictator. Because of this attitude, he feels he is right to sink with the ship when his command collapses.
8.An act of Sacrifice:
The captain feels guilty when the ship sinks and prefers to sink with the ship.
9.To be seen as a Hero or Martyr:
By sinking with the ship, the captain will always be seen as a hero or martyr. If he prefers to survive, he loses his name and fame and will have a miserable life.
10.Fear of prosecution:
If the captain prefers to survive, instead of sinking with the ship, definitely there will be Court-martial/prosecutions leading to disciplinary actions. In most of the cases the judgements will not be in his favour.
However, in spite of all the reasons listed above, Human Touch justify this act of captain sinking with the ship.

What would you say mate?

Modi, Man Mohan & the shoe chucker...

While on the subject of Narendra Modi here is another one from Modiland.......

A man made an attempt to throw a shoe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at a rally in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The shoe landed a few metres away from the PM's dais. He was addressing an election rally in the city.The youth who attempted to throw shoe at PM was taken away by police. PM has asked police not to file a case against the 28-year-old shoe-thrower.
The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has condemned the incident, terming it as an unestablished means of protest in a democracy.
Reacting to the incident, Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi has said that 'shoe throwing is not our tradition'.
"If there is a problem, there are two ways to express it -- wrong way and the right way. This is not the right way. This is not our tradition," Vadra told reporters at Dadaur village in her mother's parliamentary constituency.
In the recent past, there have been similar incidents. In one of such attacks, a shoe was hurled at Home Minister P Chidamabaram at a press conference by a journalist. At a rally in Kurukshtra, Congress leader Naveen Jindal was the target of a shoe thrown by a schoolteacher. The shoe missed him. BJP leader Lal Krishan Advani has also faced a shoe attack, which missed him. Chief Minister Narendra Modi, known for his innovative ideas, recently at a rally, came up with a unique technique to avoid such attacks. He tied up a volley ball net infront of his dais to prevent any hurled shoe from reaching him. (With PTI inputs)

Now Priyanka Ghandi, feels that 'shoe throwing is not our tradition'. I'm not going to talk about the shoe chucker because.

1. the shoe never finds its mark.
2. the chucker is always forgiven.

The obvious question to follow is 'then what is?' I guess our traditions would include the following:

1. Stashing away large sums of money in foreign banks ( Swiss).
2. Using violence to coerce people to our point of view.
3. Consider no issue or person beyond being used as a political tool to garner votes.

Politicians make you weep............, particularly those that are at a total disconnect with issues that are close to the heart of the poorest of the poor.

I salute Modi, not for his economic prowess or the riots that he allegedly engineered, but because of his creativity in getting a Volley ball net to protect him.

Mai Lai & American justice!

When Narendra Modi was denied a visa to the land of opportunity the USA, it was an act applauded by the hoi polli. Modi, if found guilty, is not to be condoned and must face the full wrath of our penal system.

Modi's story we all know, but I'm sure a story that you would not be aware of is Mai Lai. Read on.....

'Soldiers went berserk, gunning down unarmed men, women, children and babies. Families which huddled together for safety in huts or bunkers were shown no mercy. Those who emerged with hands held high were murdered. ... Elsewhere in the village, other atrocities were in progress. Women were gang raped; Vietnamese who had bowed to greet the Americans were beaten with fists and tortured, clubbed with rifle butts and stabbed with bayonets. Some victims were mutilated with the signature "C Company" carved into the chest. By late morning word had got back to higher authorities and a cease-fire was ordered. My Lai was in a state of carnage. Bodies were strewn through the village.'

The massacre described above, is an excerpt from a BBC report and not a Hollywood flick. the perpetrators, were an elite company of American troops, fighting in South Vietnam, forty years ago, to this day.

My Lai, the village has neither forgotten, the massacre and the scars are still very fresh. There is bewilderment that so called civilized men could organize a crime of this magnitude, and there is plenty of evidence, that the massacre was planned and orchestrated rather than a spur of the moment act by a group of stressed American soldiers.

To this day Mail Lai exists and lives on as proof of the horrors of war.

An extensive cover up, by the US Army failed and eventually a court martial was ordered. What was the outcome:

Court martial
On November 17, 1970, the United States Army charged 14 officers, including Major General Samuel W. Koster, the American Division's commanding officer, with suppressing information related to the incident. Most of those charges were later dropped. Brigade commander Henderson was the only officer who stood trial on charges relating to the cover-up; he was acquitted on December 17, 1971.
After a four-month-long trial, in which he claimed that he was following orders from his commanding officer, Captain Medina, William Calley was convicted, on March 29, 1971, of premeditated murder for ordering the shootings. He was initially sentenced to life in prison. Two days later, however, President Nixon made the controversial decision to have Calley released from prison, pending appeal of his sentence. Calley's sentence was later adjusted, so that he would eventually serve four and one-half months in a military prison at Fort Benning.
In a separate trial, Captain Medina denied giving the orders that led to the massacre, and was acquitted of all charges, effectively negating the prosecution's theory of "command responsibility", now referred to as the "Medina standard". Several months after his acquittal, however, Medina admitted that he had suppressed evidence and had lied to Colonel Henderson about the number of civilian deaths.
Most of the enlisted men who were involved in the events at My Lai had already left military service, and were thus legally exempt from prosecution. In the end, of the 26 men initially charged, Calley's was the only conviction.
Some have argued that the outcome of the My Lai courts-martial was a reversal of the laws of war that were set forth in the Nuremberg and Tokyo War Crimes Tribunals.Those tribunals set a historic precedent, establishing the principle that no one may be excused from responsibility for war crimes because they were "following orders". Secretary of the Army Howard Callaway was quoted in the New York Times as stating that Calley's sentence was reduced because Calley honestly believed that what he did was a part of his orders — a rationale that stands in direct contradiction of the standards set at Nuremberg and Tokyo, where German and Japanese soldiers were executed for similar acts.

President Nixon, resigned in disgrace, not much later, over the Watergate Scandal. But that is another story....

American justice! Let's hope our judicial apparatus can take a call and come clean on the 'Godra killings' and the riots that followed. They owe it to the common Indian.

Employee Engagement: Your life boat in rough seas!

Many years ago, as a young cadet, in the merchant marine, I was thrown in with a group of ten other cadets to row a life boat, a mile to our ship. The exercise, in itself, was an unmitigated disaster, because not only was the Bay of Bengal choppy but we rookie sailors were inexperienced and afraid. After futile attempts to get the boat going in the intended direction, amidst growing panic, our instructor calmly took charge, spoke a few soothing words and got us to row together on count and after a few misses we settled down to getting home, in good time.
Today, the global economy is in shambles, a boat in distress in choppy seas and times are tough; there is panic in the air, with both employers and employees groping for a means to survive the downturn. Many organizations have employees blinded by bad economic news pulling in different directions causing greater turmoil. During hard times, it is best to help ensure everyone is engaged—and pulling in the same direction, to get your boat back to safety.
One way of weathering the storm and retaining talent so that you can bounce back at the end of the down turn is by actively engaging your employees and keeping them on board. When the economy improves you do not want to be left in a situation where your most important human resources have left or looking to do so.
How do you do this? The following strategy could do the job of actively engaging employees:
· Focus on internal communication:
At the end of the day, it’s about honest communication and being a good listener, allowing employees to vent and express their concerns. In turbulent times employees crave news and it is the fundamental duty of the top management to establish channels of communication wherein employees are kept informed, irrespective of the propensity of the news. Candidness and honesty are the order of the day and would go a long way in preventing rumor mongering. Look for improved ways of improving internal communication.

· Quality Circles & Task Forces:
Have frequent meetings at different levels and brainstorm continuously. This would not only engage employees but also allow them a stake in your survival strategy. After all it is the lowly shop floor worker who has his ear closest to the ground.
Meeting could be held over lunch fostering camaraderie and brainstorming sessions could throw up ideas that could well save your organization.
· Promote stability:
Promote stability and help calm employees’ nerves, and resist the temptation to play on their panic. Show them how they fit in with the vision of the company; and remind them they are invaluable members of the organization.

· Remember Peter Drucker.

It is a good time to remember the management guru and his Management by Objectives (MBO). Clear goals, in setting which the employee has participated would get them to stay focused and engaged. It would keep the recession blues at bay and the manager can discuss performance at regular intervals, showing that he clearly values the employee’s contribution.

· Career progression through Training & Development:

A great way of showing employees that you care about their future is through training. Get them to learn new skills, and chart out a career path and you will have actively engaged employees with a strong commitment. As employees up skill, they can be job rotated to more challenging assignments.

· Reward more, not less:

In times of recession, reward programs are jettisoned in the garb of cost cutting. This could have major detrimental effects. A great way to keep employees engaged is to reward them for outstanding performance allowing them to see that they are appreciated for their efforts.


· Get your managers to lead and not just manage!

Counsel your managers carefully. Leadership at this juncture is crucial and like all good leaders have shown your managers will have to take on the addition responsibility of shepherding young employees who have had no prior experience with economic downturns.


Employee engagement is critical to your organizations future well being and studies show that it costs an average of two and a half times an employee’s salary to replace them. It’s much more cost effective to keep the employees you’ve got and concentrate on good employee engagement practices.

Pirates-Are they for real!

The Horn of Africa- The Somalian Coast, is a a place where most sailors do not want to find themselves today.

I grew up on tales of Henry Morgan and Edward Teach or 'Black Beard'. Sir francis Drake was a romantic, who plundered Spanish ships of their gold, on their way home with Aztec & Inca gold, which they had stolen themselves. All pirates and men who were legends, they asked for no quarter and gave none. It is said that when Black Beard, a huge man, was finally brought down by an American frigate off the Carribeans, he had six bullets in his body and score of cutlass wounds. The deck of his ship shook when he crashed down, with a bullet to his brain.

Most pirates died fighting or on gallows and as we approached the 21st century, seafaring slid into another dimension, where pirates had little or no place.

Piracy made a comeback with ships being boarded and looted, off the straits of Malacca and the Indonesian Archipelago and then, now its the Somalian coast.

The following article paints a contrarian view of why ships are being preyed upon off Africa.

By Johann Hari
April 12, 2009 "Huffington Post" ---
Who imagined that in 2009, the world's governments would be declaring a new War on Pirates? As you read this, the British Royal Navy - backed by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China - is sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as parrot-on-the-shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the most broken countries on earth. But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments are labeling as "one of the great menace of our times" have an extraordinary story to tell -- and some justice on their side.

Pirates have never been quite who we think they are. In the "golden age of piracy" - from 1650 to 1730 - the idea of the pirate as the senseless, savage thief that lingers today was created by the British government in a great propaganda-heave. Many ordinary people believed it was false: pirates were often rescued from the gallows by supportive crowds. Why? What did they see that we can't? In his book Villains of All nations, the historian Marcus Rediker pores through the evidence to find out. If you became a merchant or navy sailor then - plucked from the docks of London's East End, young and hungry - you ended up in a floating wooden Hell. You worked all hours on a cramped, half-starved ship, and if you slacked off for a second, the all-powerful captain would whip you with the Cat O' Nine Tails. If you slacked consistently, you could be thrown overboard. And at the end of months or years of this, you were often cheated of your wages.
Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. They mutinied against their tyrannical captains - and created a different way of working on the seas. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively. They shared their bounty out in what Rediker calls "one of the most egalitarian plans for the disposition of resources to be found anywhere in the eighteenth century." They even took in escaped African slaves and lived with them as equals. The pirates showed "quite clearly - and subversively - that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal navy." This is why they were popular, despite being unproductive thieves.
The words of one pirate from that lost age - a young British man called William Scott - should echo into this new age of piracy. Just before he was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, he said: "What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirating to live." In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.
Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury - you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."
At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish-stocks by over-exploitation - and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m worth of tuna, shrimp, lobster and other sea-life is being stolen every year by vast trawlers illegally sailing into Somalia's unprotected seas. The local fishermen have suddenly lost their livelihoods, and they are starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."

This is the context in which the men we are calling "pirates" have emerged. Everyone agrees they were ordinary Somalian fishermen who at first took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least wage a 'tax' on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia - and it's not hard to see why. In a surreal telephone interview, one of the pirate leaders, Sugule Ali, said their motive was "to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters... We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas." William Scott would understand those words.
No, this doesn't make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters - especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But the "pirates" have the overwhelming support of the local population for a reason. The independent Somalian news-site WardherNews conducted the best research we have into what ordinary Somalis are thinking - and it found 70 percent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country's territorial waters." During the revolutionary war in America, George Washington and America's founding fathers paid pirates to protect America's territorial waters, because they had no navy or coastguard of their own. Most Americans supported them. Is this so different?
Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling in our nuclear waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in London and Paris and Rome? We didn't act on those crimes - but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 percent of the world's oil supply, we begin to shriek about "evil." If we really want to deal with piracy, we need to stop its root cause - our crimes - before we send in the gun-boats to root out Somalia's criminals.

The story of the 2009 war on piracy was best summarised by another pirate, who lived and died in the fourth century BC. He was captured and brought to Alexander the Great, who demanded to know "what he meant by keeping possession of the sea." The pirate smiled, and responded: "What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while you, who do it with a great fleet, are called emperor." Once again, our great imperial fleets sail in today - but who is the robber?
POSTSCRIPT: Some commenters seem bemused by the fact that both toxic dumping and the theft of fish are happening in the same place - wouldn't this make the fish contaminated? In fact, Somalia's coastline is vast, stretching to 3300km. Imagine how easy it would be - without any coastguard or army - to steal fish from Florida and dump nuclear waste on California, and you get the idea. These events are happening in different places - but with the same horrible effect: death for the locals, and stirred-up piracy. There's no contradiction.
Johann Hari is a writer for the Independent newspaper