Living the anti-corruption dream?
Last to last night was quite a night when I think about just how much activity we were able to pack in. It marked the second day of our house-hunt and the only recurring thought throughout the whole hunt was, ‘Not worth the rent, not worth the rent’; another recurring thought on the whole issue of inflated rent rates in general has been ‘Bubble burst, Japan real estate, Financial Depression’. Lol. But that’s where it could go if people are not careful. We found a place firstly and finally. Confusing? This flat was actually in the same neighbourhood as our current flat, practically right next door. A two-room set, small bathroom, large balcony, no kitchen (Oh no sensei!) all for the ‘lovely’ price of Rs.10,000. That is a lovely price considering the going rates out here. We settled everything today and should be moving in by the end of this month. Yay!!!! I shall not be homeless or in no-man’s-land at the end of the month…I’ll have a home 
So what happened last to last night? A very good friend and ‘teacher’ came over to do what he loves to do best…cook for us! Yes, you heard me. He likes to cook and feed people! We got lovingly fed and I got a good ‘lecture’ on preparations for the UPSC and I promise, promise!!!! I am starting. It’s just so daunting and overwhelming right now….sigh….Moving on.
What was the hot topic of the night that got this post’s title started? Why, none other than our very own Anna! I am sure people must be getting tired with this being the only hot talking point in our nation right now but unfortunately, if you are living in our nation’s capital then there isn’t much you can do. If your paan wallah and his customers are discussing it then there is something definitely going on. If the small shopkeepers in the slum next door are reading about it in the vernacular newspapers, then there is something definitely going on. I suppose it was bound to happen that it’s filtered up to the living rooms of most middle class families and very much through to all sections of society. My friend got fired up and rightly so and decided to take to the net to finally educate herself on what this whole Jan Lokpal Bill is about and who exactly this Anna Hazare is. She shared some of what she learnt in her blog post titled ‘I fear Anna Hazare? Do you?’: http://kaleidoscopicaffair.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/i-fear-anna-hazare-do-you/
So who is Anna Hazare? He was in the Army and retired after serving for 11 years. He has been given various awards by the Government for his many development activities such as watershed programs and his Model Village. This was where I realized I had already read about him years ago in a Reader’s Digest article, the link to which is here: http://www.readersdigest.co.in/anna-hazare. The reason he popped back into my mind was because of this – he condones the use of public flogging (in his case it was the men in his village who continued to drink despite the no alcohol/drinking ban that had been put into place). I remember that sticking out because in my personal opinion, I just do not like public punishments of any sort. He goes on to say that rural India is a harsh place with harsh realities and that is something I can’t argue against either. However, physically punishing a person in any way, shape or form is just something I cannot stand or ever agree with. It’s up to you to decide what to make of it.
As to the Jan Lokpal Bill, I have downloaded the most recent draft and haven’t finished reading it yet. I can’t comment on it, I can only comment on what people have said about it. I’ve already stated what I think about this whole anti-corruption legislation and the proposed Bill; how it’s not about one Bill or one piece of legislation but it’s about a change in the way of thinking and in the way of life of the people. It’s about the simple things like: returning the right amount of change, not over-charging on fares, stopping man-made inflated rent rates, selling good produce and not rotten ones, not overpricing your goods, obeying the traffic laws etc. etc. As for the technical points of the Bill, all I have to say is this – a Chairman and a 10-member council cannot humanly process and clear new and pending corruption cases and charges in 2 years!
More importantly, I’m afraid. I’m afraid that the people do not understand what exactly it is they are chanting about or shouting slogans for. Are they shouting for a man or for the cause? If it’s for a man then it’s dangerous because human beings are flawed creatures bound to disappoint sooner or later as well as being fickle that they can adore you one second and loathe you the next. We are doing what we do best and that is getting carried away by hysteria and emotions. Hysteria and emotions provide the drive and the passion but they do not provide concrete solutions. History has taught us that over and over again. It is our duty to always tell both sides of the story to the people and to stop talking down to the people. In small groups, small gatherings not large, assembled crowds that unfortunately respond better to passionate and zealous speaking. I strongly believe you can be hopeful and pragmatic but unfortunately, at least in India, we live in a land of extreme’s perched precariously on either end constantly trying to balance one or the other out. How much we decide to give into them is up to us in the end.
From inflated rent rates, to witnessing firsthand the callousness with which human life is treated, it all starts with us. If the people are not ready to imbibe the whole anti-corruption ‘mantra’ or ‘ideology’ in their own lives then what good would this Bill do? Also the chances that this Bill and the proposed body can be used for personal vendetta’s are also high; the amount of checks and balances needed will be enormous if we want to ensure that such a thing should not happen. All I can do now is sigh and see, sigh and see.
Anna fever vs. UPSC fever…
If anyone has been keeping their ears open on the news in India, you would know that our capital is at a crossroads with the arrest of the Lokpal Bill activist Anna Hazare. Thousands have poured out of nowhere to show their support for him and his anti-corruption stance. It’s strange how it’s taken this nation over 60 years to reach this point. Corruption, from it’s greatest form to it’s mildest, has plagued this nation like a virulent disease that none know the cure to. The strangest thing is that the cure was always simple but we as human beings are so incredibly afraid, lax, lazy and have the typical ‘sheep’ mentality when it comes to combating corruption head-on.
I read an article in today’s Times of India, about some businessman from Hong Kong, an NRI, who had flown all the way here to Delhi to show his support for Anna. Something he said just struck me and though I understood his point perfectly, I couldn’t help but find a major loophole in his argument as well. He said that in Hong Kong, he wouldn’t think of cutting corners on traffic rules but when he lands in India, unless you cut the traffic rules, you can’t get anywhere. He went on to give another example which I can’t recall right now. The point he was trying to make was that the kind of government enforcement that goes on in Hong Kong and in India; that people in Hong Kong would think twice about violating the laws as flagrantly as their Indian counterparts. The issues I have with this argument are:
- As if there isn’t corruption in Hong Kong! People have just learnt to hide it better and I don’t know if that kind of corruption is any better than having such obvious, in-your-face corruption, like we do in India.
- Um, so, you’re saying just because EVERYONE flaunts traffic laws in India, that YOU need to as well? This takes us back to the quintessential rhetorical question that goes something like this:-
Child: Mum, can I something-something?
Parent: No, you cannot.
Child: Awwhhhh, why?
Parent: Because something–something.
Child: Why you being so old-fashioned? Everyone is doing it!
Parent: So, if everyone decides to jump off a bridge, would you? - If YOU know that what you’re doing is against the law, then it is up to YOU to make sure you abide by the law. That is the whole problem in India in a nutshell. You want a corrupt-free nation? Then stop indulging in ‘corruption’ in your very own lives! The more people we can get to follow this simple ‘ideology’, the more powerful it becomes. The Lokpal Bill addresses only our government, whose job it is to manage and look after the macro-affairs of our lives and nation. The micro part of it is up to us. If we want a corrupt-free nation, it is our duty and responsibility to start with ourselves. Unless we do, no amount of Bills and anti-corruption legislation is going to work.
If everyone in this nation could become an ‘Anna Hazare’ and live by his principles of honesty and integrity, truly then we will have a corrupt-free society and government. A Bill is not going to solve anything…you will make one man accountable but what about the other billion? You will make one government accountable but what about all the other parties?
Along with the ‘Anna’ fever, there was another fever sweeping across this nation last night – the Civil Services Preliminary results! It’s just so ironic that there is a fight going on to rid the nation of corruption and reform the government while at the same time, the results were out for the exams which select the very same officers who will become the machinery of our administrative system. Though limited in power often times by the government they serve and the parties in power, they still have the potential to effect the greatest amount of change with their authority, IF, they choose to. So to all those aspiring civil servants who succeeded in this first stage, my heartiest congratulations to you and wishes for success in the upcoming rounds ahead. Also with that goes my heartfelt prayer and wish that we all remember what it is all about at the end…service to the nation and the people. That’s why they are called Civil ‘Servants’.
