The lokpal Gift

“ Saab ye Anna hain na ..Dekho ..Saab ko sidha kar denge” . Chotu uttered with a beaming look while I was engrossed in catching up on the latest developments of Anna’s fast . It was the 7th day of Anna’s fast and I had gone to my regular joint to have a chai. Chotu must be around 10 and matured than most of the children of his age. A fact attributed to his fate. Not much was known to me about chotu except that he had been serving at the chai joint for 3 years and that he was called ‘chotu’,a generic name for kids of his profession. The only interaction we had so far was about the current bill and the previous balance, about which he seldom was wrong.

But today, I saw a different version of him. He was excitedly watching the events, commenting on some news headlines, at times arguing with customers about the outcome .He may have been factually wrong .But his sprits were high. I am not sure if he understood what the Jan Lokpal bill was about, or the differences of opinion on the topic . He probably may not even have come across corruption except for the hafta given to the police and the Corporation ‘officers’.But he wanted Anna to win. Rather, in Anna he saw sought reprisal for his own fate. While I was happy for Chotu ,the thought of failure scared me. It would shatter him to the core if the fast did not fetch the desired results.

After all, things were not that simple. Chotu was a kid and didn’t understand lot many complications that were involved. I was an educated person and could logically assess possibilities. To my mind, Chotu’s was an exaggerated euphoria.But then, Revolutions aren’t about logic. They thrive on the undeterred conviction of believers for a cause that defies all logic and laws of society. For that moment, I just chose to deny my intellect and logic, to pray with Chotu and millions of others for an ‘Anna victory’.

So did Anna win? Well the answer depends on how we perceive the battle and its outcome. The episode ended by the parliament adopting a ‘Sense of the house’ in support of Anna’s Jan Lokpal bill. Technically speaking, it is nothing more than a view of the members at THAT POINT OF TIME. It cannot be mandated into a bill or law and neither has any standing in the law formation process. To best of my knowledge, the constitutional process does not require any action to be taken on such ‘Sense of House’ adoptions. Nevertheless, the only benefit being Anna ended his fast and lives long and strong to fight more such battles. So frankly speaking, the fast ended without much outcome on the Jan Lokpal bill . Even if the house agrees to the contents of Anna’s bill, it is not binding on the members to comply to it when (and if) it comes for voting.

However, there are many other aspects of the movement which need to be deliberated before judging it in one way.

ICON

For one, here is a 74 year old who has become a messiah, an ICON for the people of the country, especially the youth.. This was absolutely necessary for a fast developing country which is high in sprits but starved of real icons. Recently I had seen youths raising scandalous businessmen and politicians to iconic stature. The elevation of Anna to assume a father like stature is the best gift the nation would have received at this point of time. After all, People follow their leaders and the collective psyche of the people decides the fate of the society and nation as a whole.

VIRTUE

Secondly, while much is said about the strong support that Anna got in Kejriwal, Bedi and others, and the entire movement is subject of management studies, one factor that stands out and which made a difference between this movement and other such movements was Anna’s CHARACTER. In no time, Anna has reached a point that a few people strive for during their lifetime. In an age where ‘Character Dhila hai’ becomes an anthem, we have an old man challenging the establishment on the basis of one power he possesses. His character. A virtue, which has very less numbers of takers, so much so that it would have been erased from the dictionary in a few years!

Anna could appeal to the people and challenge his detractors to find faults in him merely because he is clean and can proclaim so with conviction. I am sure that the establishment would have left no tables turned to find flaws with Anna’s public and private life. The fact that they could not find any, speaks a lot about him. This movement and Anna’s life in particular helped establish the importance of character in our lives.

MEANS

Thirdly, many of us had read about the Satyagraha and non violence movement of Gandhiji .There is no parallels to such a movement in the history. The closest you could get in history that resembles such a struggle was about Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela. But then both are from a different era. I always found it impossible to comprehend that goals could be achieved by such means. And even if they were in the past, these are different times. Well, who could have imagined one year back than a non violent movement would do such wonders! To me, like many others of this generation, Anna has given a just means to fight for a just cause.

POWER OF ONE

Fourthly, it was heartening to see people coming out for support in such large numbers. It was a miracle of sorts. While there had been resentment brewing in minds of people against the establishment, particularly in wake of recent incidents, the exciting factor was that people actually chose to participate in the struggle instead of being bystanders. This proved beyond doubt that the spirit of the nation is still alive. Also, the feeling that people can ( still) collectively accomplish something will help tune the history of this nation for a long time to come .

THE GIFT OF DEMOCRACY

Last but not the least, while we can go about finding flaws in the system, we must be thankful to the framers of the constitution for making this a democratic republic and the very same politicians for maintaining so for 65 years !. Imagine the fate of such a movement in China or Pakistan. I am absolutely sure that such a movement would not have sustained or would have been forced to turn violent if it were to be conducted in most countries across the world. The government did have an high handed attitude in dealing with the movement, but better sense prevailed and it was non-violent.

While we can go about listing a lot many pros and cons of this movement, you might still ask the question – So who won ? Will the Jan lokpal become a reality? Well, to me these are irrelevant questions. To give an analogy, we all know about the Dandi March that Gandhiji undertook in protest of the tax imposed on salt. Well, the tax was never lifted even after Gandhiji famously lifted a handful of salt at Dandi. In fact the tax still continues and in much higher today!. The Dandi march became a symbol of the nation rising to recognize and fight for its rights. Even though the tax was never waived, the movement culminated into something much bigger- Our freedom.

The movement of Jan Lokpal is a metaphor for the rising aspirations of people. For a desire to make this a better country, to have responsible governance and more importantly a need to be heard. The actual bill might be just an insignificant milestone.

Yesterday, I had gone to Chotu’s tea stall. This was my first visit after Anna broke his fast. Curious about Chotu’s views , I asked him what he felt. “ Saab – Jab bhi idhar se koi batti waali gadi jaati thi, apun sochta tha ki ye sale raja hai aun apun praja. Socha tha …ek din in jaisa banunga. Lekin ab nahi lagta saab. Ab apun ko paata hai. Apun ich king hai !”

Well…. That sums it all

The infinite loop ....

Condemnation, Strong Condemnation. Condolences, Deep Condolences, Praising the resilience of Delhi citizens (this time Delhi!), Blaming Pakistan or ISI, Sending dossier to Pakistan, HM ensuring the nation that the perpetuators will be dealt with severely, PM assuring that such incidents will not take place in future (btw he has assured so on 15th July), Politics over a strong anti Terror law, Adjournment of the Parliament sessions (It was anyways happening ….now they got a new reason), Again a “Katti” with Pakistan,

Possibly setting up another agency to investigate such incidents (can somebody measure such agencies please…I bet they are more than the people employed by them ) , Debate whether it was an Intelligence failure -
And the saga continues ....
While the nation bleeds....

Read this one  ..posted a while back . Now Delhi Blasts and nothing has changed..

The larger picture

“Koi Insaan ya Desh Chota nahin hota”. .

Well I am not publicizing KBC here !. These lines inadvertently came to my mind the other day when I saw the front page of news paper carrying a photograph of Mr. Krishna shaking hands with Miss. Heena Rabbani Khar. While most news papers talked about the beaming new era of friendship between the two countries (apart from the style statement of the esteemed Foreign Minister of Pakistan), I had different thoughts in mind. The photo to me actually was a reflection of the age difference/freshness in mindset and approach of the two nations, to the changing world of international politics and foreign policies. This is one area where, no matter how much you disagree, Pakistan has been beating us in the game, while we are still trying to understand the rules of the game!. With all our political systems, strategists, think tanks etc in place, we have been out maneuvered by Pakistan (with all its political issues, allegations, international pressures etc) time and again.

Coming to the point, we are still struggling to get a cue about the Mumbai blasts (remember? There were blasts in Mumbai few days back?) . While the investigating agencies are doing their job, the question needs to be asked – What will be the end point of such investigation? We would identify the perpetuators- Well we have already done that for the Pune blasts ( if the police statements are to be believed), the Delhi blasts, and so on( I cant even recount the number of such cases since last 5 years).What next ? We MIGHT establish and highlight role of Pakistan. Highlight to whom? Besides, the role in 26/11 was as obvious as a new born learning to pee! What has been the outcome?

What do you mean -some may ask? We have sent them dossiers (Cost of raddi in Pakistan went down in those times due to excessive supply!) ! After all, we are a responsible nation and follow a rule of law! Yes, most definitely, the Kasabs and Gurus are most grateful to India for establishing the rule of law! (On a side note, just wondering where was the rule of law when Warren Anderson –of Bhopal fame was taken out of the country with due respect and protection!).

While we are still ‘investigating ‘these blasts, there are plans being finalized to meet the next ‘targets’!. This has been happening in the past and will continue in future. The problem lies in we not seeing things in the right frame. Our responses have always been to localized events at respective times, while failing to understand, gauge and fully draft a comprehensive response to the larger agenda ( which for many is as simple – Pakistan wants to do XYW with India !).

Let us try and understand these things in a larger context. Are these incidents (blasts etc) a war against India? Well emm yes and NO!. Wars by definition are supposed to have an objective. With my limited understanding, I fail to understand what objective is achieved by killing some innocent people or striking fear in minds of few more or than causing loss to business or a small dent to the national pride-which most Indians are used to by now. Obviously we are not going to give away Kashmir because of it !! Hell NOT! .

So what is it ? And what for ? To answer this,, let us understand the geo-political and historical scenario. For one, Islam as a religion constitutes almost 25 % of the world population. While wars in Europe (and as they spread to other continents) during historic times were more about territorial and materialistic ambitions, there was not much of a religious motive behind them. Of course, they did help in spread of Christianity across the globe.On the contrary, wars from middle east had as much to do with spread of Islam as for other reasons. Wars were an instrument of spreading Islam and as such extension of the state policy. Also , since its inception till almost the middle of nineteenth century, Islam as a society had a significant political presence .

Come today, we do have a significant presence of Islam globally and it has shaped the history and demography of many a nations. .However, the amount of political, economic clout that Islamic nations enjoy is significantly less-certainly less compared to the resources at hand. To say , we do have middle east with huge cash reserves. But that doesn’t buy them anything more than riches. There is an identity void that affects the intellectuals and the upper strata of the society.They yearn for more say ,but cannot do it.

The question might be asked here is – Why just Islam? This might be true about the Hindus, Buddhists etc .Also the Christians may be ruling significant portions of the world, they are disintegrated into as many sects as the castes in India!. The reason is , Islam ( or rather a hardliner faction of it globally) has always treated itself as a single entity. For them (and I am talking of the few with hardcore views), the world is still divided into 2 sections – Islam and non Islam. So, they have the money, they have the people, they also have managed the weapons (Pakistan!),but not the political space they are looking for. One reason is that the populace is spread across multiple nations, ethnicity and continents. The other reason is most of such nations are helpless in front of the western (read American) hegemony.

A significant number of intellectuals who believe in this monolithic structure of Islam also believe in the concept (or prophecy) of an eventual Islamic dominance of the world. However, the problems before them are manifold. The disintegrated nature of populace, the western hegemony, conflicts within the nations –to name a few. Besides the idea had (has) not found roots in majority of the Islamic populace. The solution (or the first part) lies in bringing the people together. But this is easier said than done! Well you cannot do so by mere preaching ,delivering sermons and asking people to sacrifice their peaceful life! .You need better means. What better way than to -

a. Publicize injustice against the religion by giving examples of various atrocities ( real or manufactured ) across the globe ( including India).

b. Selling the dream of Islamic unity and superiority and awakening the desire amongst people to be part of the same.

c. To demonstrate the viability of such a concept being successful by carrying attacks across different places in the world and creating heroes out of the perpetrators .

d. Create pockets of dissidence within individual nation states and use them for furthering the agenda.

d. Eventually, to capitalize on the social isolation and loss of identity of the Islamic populace in different nations ,due to such terror attacks , and to draw them towards the final objective.

e. Conceal the real motive by calling terror attacks as a revenge for some ‘XY’ incident in the past.

This cycle has been followed systematically for few decades now. In recent decade or so, it has started yielding results and that is the reason the proponents are more enthusiastic and upbeat about it. 9/11, 26/11 and various other such incidents across the globe are part of the same strategy and agenda. While a dominant number of Muslims may still be not part of the same, such incidents and the aftermath definitely make their situation worse. They are caught in crossfire and eventually have to jump this way or the other. Quite a few cross the fence and submit themselves to the idea. Obviously, the best way to expedite the process is to increase the frequency of ‘Terrorist Strikes”.

Who all are involved? Well this is a logical consortium consisting of business men, politicians, intellectuals, power brokers, elements (or entirety) of military, Religious leaders  from all over the globe and also some nation states. They exist in every nook and corner of the world with visible presence in some portions while largely unnoticed in most other parts. There is a subtle line of common understanding that runs between the visibly separated events across the world. A measurable number of nation-states are party to the game, though covertly.

Now, let come back to the Indian context and try to dissect the situation. Pakistan ( a significant number of entities within it ) are torch bearers of the philosophy and the eventual triumph. India being perceived as anti Islamic (although it has more Islamic population than Pakistan) is logical target. However, it doesn’t stop here!. The Pakistani state(as a whole) may or may not believe in the pan-Islamic philosophy and possibly may not be interested either. But it sees a good opportunity in causing dissidence in India and help settle political scores .So they are all game for any such plans and provide military ,logistical and all the required support to meet the ends. Simultaneously, the pan-Islamic state stands to gain out of political animosity between India and Pakistan due to the support infrastructure available. Hence the attempts to scuttle peace process now and then. As such, the differences between India and Pakistan (as nation-states) are largely political and would otherwise be settled in due course of time. However, the Islamic angle will make things difficult and ensure that the same does not happen. An ulterior motive is also to maximize the participation of Indian Muslims to the global agenda.

To summarize, what we have is a -

State – Logical consortium for today and a prophesized pan-Islamic state for tomorrow.

Policy – Integration of Islamic resources –human, financial, military and intellectual to achieve and eventual supremacy..

War – All actions ( terror strikes being just one instrument) resulting in creation of fundamentalists pockets across the globe who are physically separated, but logically united.

War is an extension of state policy.

Does it make sense now?

In the Indian context, Pakistan is fighting a small battle with India , in conjunction with the larger war. And incidents like Mumbai are actually WEAPONS in the battle (or war). They achieve no purpose in isolation, but help win wars when grouped together. The saddening part is that our state machinery is so engrossed in “investigating” the weapons or trying to prevent the use of them, that we do not have time even to think of the larger war and counter it.

The solution? Well everybody seems to have their own !.

Kids fight ...oops sorry Terrorism

This incident occurred when I was in eighth class. I used to commute to my school on bicycle. Nayana, who stayed couple of blocks away from our house, suffered a knee injury. We were family friends and her mother requested me to carry Nayana to and from school on my bicycle. I was more than glad to do so!. Nayana was in E division while I was in D. Sameer was Nayana’s classmate and was known to be close to ‘Parkhi’ , a political DON !. Well with my sense of understanding today, Parkhi probably was one of the ‘partially educated –unemployed ‘ whom the local politicians used for all the wrong reasons . Parakhi derived his powers based on his political connections and was a BIG person for the teens of our township. Connections to him for us in those times ( and age) were equivalent to connections with ‘D’ !. Sameer probably was in love with 8th standard syllabus and was keen on learning it thoroughly!. This was his third year , one of the few who achieved the feat .

So started my ‘cycle-pool’ for Nayana. Day one was good ending with me eagerly waiting for the next day. On day two, while returning from school, I found my cycle with a flat tyre at the parking. Since Nayana couldn’t walk that long, I arranged a lift for her and was returning home. I found Sameer and his friends (well he never had friends from the school…they were kids for him) waiting a few meters ahead. While crossing them, I bowed to Sameer in the anticipation that he would probably recognize me !. After all hie was ‘Parkhi’s man’!.To my surprise, I found them waiting for me !. Before I could understand, I was pushed and I fell down along with my bi-cycle. I was hit all over, slapped multiple times and abused with the most foul language. All this while I pleaded to know the reason.

The only thing I was told was ‘Don’t mess up with me !. Stay away from Nayana’!

I was badly bruised and had good amount of explanation to do at home, besides skipping school the next day because I was horribly scared.

In nutshell, the story was, Sameer was madly in love with Nayana and hence retained the moral responsibility of protecting from all the evil!!. My proximity with her was obviously not acceptable and I had to be punished for the same. All this while the girl ( as I realized later) cared a damn for him !. I was now really sacred of even being seen near Nayana, let go accompanying her to the school !. However, it was difficult to explain to parents. So I would take her on my bi-cycle and ask her to get down 200 meters ahead of school gate. However even this was noticed by the ‘spies’ and I was to pay the price , this time thrashing ,followed by some ‘Dhamki’ from one of Sameer’s ‘commanders ‘ .

I stopped going to school altogether for a few days. I had mixed feelings of anguish, fear, humiliation, helplessness and all the others in the family of thoughts. I was a ‘good boy’ in school and had a reputation to carry. However this news would by now have spread across and I was embarrassed to even face my friends. All, this apart from the physical pain I had to bear.

The cycle-pooling stopped but not my abuse. Probably I was established as an object of suspicion and verbally and at times physically abused by this group every now and then, within the school premises and outside. It now had become more of an habit than a reaction to events. Complaining was not going to help much and I was silently suffering taking into stride all the humiliations, not letting anyone, especially the parents know. This continued for about three to four months. I was keen to visit my relatives during summer vacation so as to avoid contact.

In the early days of my ninth standard schooling, I was visited by a cousin of mine from Mumbai. My cousin was born and brought up in Dadar and claimed to be an accomplice of underworld don ‘ Amar Naik’ . He also claimed to be close to some stalwarts of a political party in Mumbai. I was ecstatic on his arrival since he was somebody I could rely upon. I explained him the entire story which he listened patiently. He consoled me , gave me some mantra and philosophy and suggested me a way to deal with it and I acted accordingly.

Two days later, after doing some research, I bunked my classes to coincide with Sameer’s PT period. That was one of the few times when he was on his own. I joined their class in playing football and in the process (as a matter of fact in couple of minutes before anybody could realize), pushed Sameer really hard. I was a well build boy and the impact was visible. Sameer had suffered some bruises on his nose and knees. He soon recovered and rushed at me like a wild bull. I stood calmly at my position and slapped him as soon as he approached me. By now the entire team had gathered and the PT instructor, thinking it to be a football-fight sorted it out, while scolding me for bunking my periods.Later in the evening, I even bunked my last period and ensured a flat tyre for Sameer.

His friends usually met him just outside the school. I waited for Sameer after the school. My mere presence near the cycle stand was enough to get him mad and he ran at me. This time (and I feel sorry for him even today!), I hit him at the wrong place and continued hitting him till it took him to recover. He was in absolute state of shock and did not know how to react. I stood there while he was crying in pain and then left while giving a strong signal of not messing up with me again.

The next day, I was accompanied by my cousin to the school. As expected, the ‘gang’ was waiting for me at the school gate. As planned, my cousin stood a few meters away while I proceeded –a little scared of course. To my surprise, it was Parkhi along with Sameer. He caught hold of me, slapped me once. But this time, I was bold enough and shouted at him to hear me out. I explained him the whole story about being victimized because of entertaining a ‘family request’ and that I had no interest in the girl etc etc. I was let off and asked to mend my ways and not to ever touch Sameer again!. I agreed with a rider that Sameer would stay away from me as well. Of course, all this courage was attributed to my cousin, standing and watching from a few meters away!. I was amazed at the fact that the situation was handled fairly OK with no involvement from my cousin.

A few days later, my cousin went back to Mumbai but left a very important lesson for me . Sameer and his gang never ever troubled me. In fact, in tenth standard, Sameer befriended me with the intention to be-friend to Nayana! .And I continued with the new friendship while dilly –dallying the introduction under some pretext or other !. Sameer realized this but couldn’t do much about it !.

Here is what my cousin had told me the day before

“These kind of skirmish (his word was Rada) happen occasionally. We often tend to wait for the next opportunity to avenge for the earlier one .However that may not always happen. You don’t know when the next event happens and you probably have by then gotten over it. The opponent and circumstances may be different. Besides yesterday’s enemies may be today’s friends. So, what is important is that you come out victorious/ unscathed out of every battle. You need to respond to every adventure swiftly so as to proclaim your superiority. You may use sam,dam ,dand ,bhed to achieve it . At times you may also have to flee and hide. Once you start sensing danger, you need to have a plan and strategy to deal with it . Your opponents may be stronger than you . At times you may not even know them. But what is important is that you think ahead of them and that’s what keeps you alive! Your strength is your only weapon and no other weapon helps ! Reliance on others does not help too much .You friends would support you if you are strong. They will console you if you are weak.”.

These words, although were mostly applicable to his ‘line of business’, had a strong impression on me and helped me ‘take care ‘of couple of such incidents in my life. Eventually, I drifted away from this cousin of mine and his words until …..

13-July- 2011.

I was telling this story to a group of friends on 14th July when one of them argued.

“Don’t be silly. You cannot compare street fights or kid fights with terrorism (I don’t buy this word. But more about it later….). They are way different.

Well…Are they??

Corruption - The primal instinct

Cast-


Dinesh Mantri ( Papa) : A middle aged executive working for an MNC . Dinesh has reached his position with lots of struggle and sacrifices in life.

Abhishek D Mantri ( Pappu) : Dinesh’s 10 year old son. Studying at one of the premier schools in the city. A very smart and talented character

Snehal D Mantri ( Mommy) : Well it has to be Mrs. Mantri . Graduate. Sacrificed her career for family like many a women of her times

Prachi D Mantri( Didi) : 16 year old bubbly teenager. Just out of her high school.

Ashok Mantri ( Dada) : Dinesh’s father. A retired Railway employee.

Location - Living room of Mr. Mantri’s apartment at a premium location in the city.

Scene -Papa sitting on the sofa working on his laptop when the door bell rings . The maid who incidentally is cleaning nearby opens the door. In comes Pappu and throws his school bag on the sofa .

Pappu : Hello Papa ! Not gone to office today ?

Papa : Hello Pappu ! How was your school today ?

Pappu: As usual !But how come you are at home ?

Papa: I am working from home today .

Pappu : That’s great ! I wish we had a schooling from home like that ! Btw where is Mommy?

Papa : She is in the kitchen. Why don’t you freshen up so that we can have lunch together?

( Pappu vanishes into his room. Papa still engrossed with his Laptop. Meanwhile ,Didi arrives and goes to her room after saying hi to her Papa)

(A while later…..)

Pappu: Papa Can you tell me something about corruption ? Actually we are supposed to research and write an essay on some socially relevant topic. I have chosen corruption.

Papa : (Visibly proud of his Son’s choice) That’s great beta. You need to be socially conscious and write about such things .

Pappu : Yess papa . But I need your help on this. Can you help me write something on it ?

Papa : (Wondering what he must tell to a 10 year old ) Basically Corruption is all that bad things that people do around . We see and hear a lots about it these days . Why don’t you come up with some examples and we will discuss them.

Pappu : Oh…So corruption is about all the bad things people do, isn’t it ? Today morning Raghu pushed me while boarding the school bus because he wanted the window seat. Even the other day, a man almost stomped me and Mom when we were about to get into the city bus . I hate such bad people !

Papa : (Confused and thinking what to say) Well Pappu. That’s not corruption. You can call it indiscipline or rude behavior. But not corruption.

Pappu : ( A bit disappointed ) Oh ..ok

Pappu makes a note in his notebook

Jumping in lines is rude or indecent . Not corrupt

Pappu : Dad, Saxena sir always favours Rishi because his dad and Saxena sir are friends. I bet he is corrupt.

Papa : That a bad thing to do boy. But you call it immoral act. Not corruption.

Pappu makes another entry

Immorality is not corruption

Pappu : Dad … How about Didi bunking classes ? The other day I saw her with Rohan at Adlabs during college hours !

( A perplexed Papa doesn’t know what to say ! Didi makes and entry at the same time and whacks Pappu…. They are indulged in their good little fight )

Didi : Papa , We had off that day .And besides Rohan was helping me with my scooty’s flat tyre ! And you ‘kiddo’ Thats not corruption OK !

Pappu’s notebook entry

Bunking is not corruption .Neither is telling lies

Papa : ( sternly) Prachi , I don’t want you to be seen anywhere other than college . Do you understand ?

Papa : Pappu , Corruption basically happens when one stands to gain by favoring other.

Pappu : Like ? Like when you favored Kailash Uncle for the post of Society secretary because he allowed us to cover the balcony ?

Papa : ( Now a bit unnerved ) Abhishek mind your words! That was me helping him. Not corruption !

Helping people for petty (undue) favour is not corruption

( By now Didi is involved in the discussion since her favorite soap is over)

Didi : Dad, what was the Satyam scam about ? Isnt that corruption. ?

Papa: Yes. But not exactly. They call it fraud or corporate malpractice.

Didi : And the subprime crisis in US ? Last time you were pretty angry at them when you had to quit Lexasys .

Papa : Well that was a systemic failure which nobody anticipated .

Didi : Does that mean the best financial brains in the world didn’t anticipate this ?

Papa : Well that’s what we are made to believe.

Entry into Pappu’s notebook

Business has different terms for bad things. They are called crisis, fraud, malpractice. But not corruption. Also these things happen in many other countries as well.

( Mommy enters and directs everybody to the dining table. The discussion continues)

Mommy : Tur Dal has reached 76 rs Kilo.

Pappu : ( interrupting excitedly) Dad ..is this because of corruption ? I heard even sugar prices are going up. Ramu kaka was telling that the grocer is stocking lots of sugar .

Papa : Pappu beta. The grocer is just being opportunist. Well you can kinda call it corruption…but…..not in real sense.

Entry

Stocking of foodgrains and necessary stuff for the purposes of making profits can be called as corruption .But not exactly.

Mommy : What is this corruption thing going on ? Be quick and finish your lunch.

( The family has just finished lunch and still busy with the discussion on corruption when Dadaji enters )

Didi : Good afternoon Dadaji !

Dada : Good afternoon beta. Whats going on ?

Pappu : Dadaji I need to write an essay on corruption .So dad was helping me with that. Btw ,did you have corruption during your times ?

Dada : Well , it was there .But not as much as now. But then we also did not have all these media and channels in those days. So things never came out.

Pappu’s entry

Corruption was supposedly less in olden days .Media attention has brought focus to it.

The discussions continues for the rest of the afternoon and Abhishek learns a lot of new things in his pursuit of information about corruption. He also searches the net and has had good insight into things. He submitted his essay the next week and was applauded by his teacher. She sent the copy to his father for his comments .Dinesh was astounded by what he read! Here’s what Abhishek has to say

"During my research of corruption, I came across many a bad things that people do and possess. Some of them fit the generally recognized definition of corruption while others are identified by different words like immoral, unethical, anti social, illegal, malpractice etc. Wikepedia provides different meanings of corruption, which encompasses almost all the vices in human behavior.

Most of these tendencies originate from the basic human desire to achieve their goals,many a times at the cost of others . However, this tendency is not just restricted to humans but observed in other animals as well. “ Law of Jungle” or “ Might is right” are good phrases to signify this behavior. When this is done in the framework of law ,morality and socially acceptable practices of those times, such people are praised as achievers. Many others often knowingly or unknowingly  subvert the established legal and social framework in the process of attaining their goals .

Good and bad acts also are a function of time and geography. Certain practices acceptable in a particular era may be illegal or immoral later. Similarly certain acceptable practices in a country might be illegal in others. However inspite of this, the root cause of all these vices resides in human desire to achieve-fast. The problem is aggravated by the god given intelligence found in human beings. While animals would normally fight and settle for their ‘needs’, humans have a long list of ‘wants’ which surpass their ‘needs’. With the world moving so fast, it is but natural that an increasingly more number of people would want to adopt every means at their disposal to achieve their goals. Hence the increase in corruption, frauds, illegal activities etc.

Corruption is not a standalone problem , but rather like others, a symptom or outcome of a primal human attribute. While this primitive desire has led to enormous progress of mankind, it has also introduced many a  challenges in the path. Hence, the problem of corruption and its solution cannot be seen in isolation. Rather it is linked to the fundamental changes required in human attitude about life, the world and the universe at large.

Two lions cannot stay in the same dominion . It is not their primitive instinct. And they also donot have the capability to change it .

Do we have it ??"

Corruption - The problem statement

My blogs are corrupt !. Anyways, it is the in thing now a days and I thought that I should also join the bandwagon lest I be seen out of place !. The other day, I was surfing channels and chanced upon some discussion going around ,obviously about corruption. In came my kid and frowned “ Colluption band kal ..maala cartoon pahayacha aahe “ literally meaning “ Stop corruption, I want to watch Cartoon “ !. The fact is there is so much “corruption” going on around in media that my kid actually must be thinking that all the news channels are called corruption !.

Anyways, one line that struck me in the episode was “Stop corruption”!. How casually could my kid say this while the Government and team Anna are still struggling to find a way to reconcile their differences for a draft that needs to be approved by the government before presenting to the parliament as a bill and ,if approved may result in creation of office that could possibly put a tab on corruption , provided it has the right evidence and documents to prove so( the country is obliged to all concerned that at least the physical structure of Adarsh is still in-tact and that remains the only proof that it actually exists. ).

Coming back, I kept pondering over ways to “Stop corruption”. After all, I too have some social responsibility and then Anna doesnot hold monopoly on ways to stop corruption !. Even I am enthrusted the responsibility as a citizen of this country . Now there was one problem. As per the rules of the game ( the game that I have to play in office every day!), I need to understand the problem statement before solving it .

So what is the problem ? Well that’s easy …. “ There is lots of corruption in the government “. But which government ? 2G, CWG, Adarsh flashed in front of me followed by “Chara Ghotala”, Bofors and many many others. So the problem statement refined “ There is lots of corruption in all the governments “ . Well that’s good . So we have the bad boys doing all the corruption in the government and we need to get rid of it . “It” ? What does it mean? Well I am not a political novice !!. “It” means the political parties or a cocktail of them who form governments because they got a majority and consequently an authority to rule !. Hang on –But didn’t we change government in 2004 because we thought that it was corrupt and inefficient ? So did we in 1999 and 1998 and god knows how many times !! .

My curious mind still working on the problem statement . But how can parties be corrupt ? It is like saying that my building is corrupt ! Besides all the parties have had long and glorious past with websites that proudly proclaim their vision and mission statement !. So, concluded me – “ Most of the people who belong to most of the political parties that rule different government bodies in the country from Gram panchayat to Federal Government are corrupt “. Well that’s and achievement I thought ..keep it up .

My mind was still not ready to give up . After all I had scored good marks in Civics during my schood days !. If all politicians ( or most of them.. I am being politically correct here  ) were corrupt, why don’t the officers and police keep a tab on them , investigate and prosecute them ? After all we do have the legislature, judiciary and administration as 3 independent arms of the government..isnt it ? I remembered an interaction with a relative of mine who had to “pay” regular visits to Mumbai to ensure that he doesnot get transferred from his current post and location. Also there was some news in media recently that the Chief Vigilance Commissioner( I am yet to find out what is the role of this office ) had to step down due to Corruption charges .

I was sad. After so many hours of breaking my head , I had not even been able to identify the problem statement . My latest version looked as follows “ Most of the politicians from most of the political parties and many bureaucrats ,police officers are corrupt”. I am a person who strives for perfection ( particularly when it comes to my wife ironing my shirt ) . So I wont give up easily till I have verified the problem statement from all the angles!. Besides there has to be somebody who can take care of these monsters !!. Havent we seen it in the movies ? Hey Hey…The Army ..thats correct…NDA, CDS ..all my childhood dreams came alive !. It has to be the army . See I was so correct even as a child !.

I had almost finalized my problem statement and about to draft a Military answer when it “Dawned” upon me that in some recent survey, Pakistan was one of the few countries that was ahead of India as far as the Corruption Index ( next task is to study this formula) was concerned . Well Pakistan has been ruled by the Army for so many years ! So how is it possible ? Something is wrong . Besides, there were so many names from the armed forces emanating out of the “Adarsh” box !. While I admired the army, I always had a grudge . During my NCC days, I was made to run 3 rounds for being late,while Anand joined the parade because he always had a cigarette for the Major ( All the uniform waalas were called Majors). So the army waalas were not “ Doodh ke Dhule” either even though they wore nicely starched uniforms ? That’s what it looked like .

“ Most of the politicians from most of the political parties and many of the bureaucrats, police officers and some of the defence officers were corrupt “ Version 13 of the problem statement said. I still maintained a soft corner for the Army !.

I was riding my bike , thinking of the ( now eternal) problem statement when I accidentally happened to jump over the signal. The efficient cop was quick to stop me and was in immediate possession my my licence book and bike keys . I was presented with 2 options . Rs 100 for express service(without receipt) and Rs.300 for ordinary. Me, being an honest son of India and particularly while I was almost about to solve the corruption problem, opted for the latter.

After waiting for almost an hour , I got an appointment with the police officer who examined my licence book for 3 odd minutes and said . “ Your licence has expired . So your fine would be increased. Besides we will need to file a case against you “. “ But how is that possible “ I exploded. My license is valid till 2016. That’s when I realized the trick. The 6 in handwritten 2016 was being deliberately interpreted as zero to prove me wrong. Again here, I was given the express option which I refused. Instead I took it on me to prove myself correct and left the police station with a firm determination to get the records and place them before the officer. My license and bike keys still with the police.

That’s when I realized how big a mess I was into . My licence was from my hometown Nasik. I had to travel all the way to Nasik to fetch the records which I did. At the RTO office, I spent half a day shuttling between counters without much progress in what I had come for. Finally I was told to seek a letter from the local police station stating that my original license had been lost and that I wanted a duplicate one. I was also to bring originals of my proof of residence and a photo identity.

By now my problem had worsened. I did not have anything to prove that I was a resident of Nasik or that I was myself !. I went to the concerned local authorities but in vain !. Again , I was offered an option of ‘creating the documents’ for Rs 5000 which I refused. After all, if this is what I had to do , I could as well settled for the Rs 100 express fine !. Finally after 3 days of ordeal, I came back home feeling dejected and disillusioned . I was surprised to see my bike parked in front of the gate . My younger brother had through some contacts managed to convince the officer and got back the licence and bike for a “fee”.

“ Most of the politicians from most of the political parties , most of the bureaucrats and police officers , almost all of the government servants and police -dealing with public, many of the government servants otherwise and some of the defence officers are corrupt “ I proclaimed in disdain which was an outcome of my experiences over the past few days.

The bad guys identified , now they are to be severely punished. Who would do that ? Well the judiciary . Then why did I need to travel to Nasik if Judiciary could help me . That’s because Judiciary requires evidence and where does it come from ? The police are supposed to collect it with help of the right government bodies. “ Most of the politicians from most of the political parties , most of the bureaucrats and police officers , almost all of the government servants and police -dealing with public, many of the government servants otherwise, some of the defence officers and some in the judiciary are corrupt ,which also results in delayed and ineffective justice “- Version 21.

By now, I had started getting exasperated ( which I am sure you would be by now !) and was about to finalize this as my problem statement when it occurred to me that all these are just one side of the coin. After all, I had to suffer because I refused to bribe. What about others ? Why would people not prefer a Rs. 100 express fine over Rs 300 fine and make life easier ? Also, with my version of problem statement so far, there had to be an overwhelming number of “donors” for the business to flourish. I modified my problem statement to read “Most of the politicians from most of the political parties , most of the bureaucrats and police officers , almost all of the government servants and police -dealing with public, many of the government servants otherwise, some of the defence officers and some in the judiciary are corrupt ,which also results in delayed and ineffective justice . The problem is compounded by ordinary people accepting, helping , advocating corruption and thus are part of the problem”.

It is then that I was enlightened by the truth and my problem statement appeared right in front of me .“ We,The people - are corrupt !!!”. Gosh !! That was to bold a statement and obviously a big a problem to solve !!.

Pondering on the latest realization, it seemed to be too harsh a statement to me. How can it be true ? After all I am calling myself corrupt ! My parents , kins everybody corrupt ? Besides , I was aware of some virtuous individuals and some exemplary officials, politicians and police officers who have been honest ,upright and non compromising.

However , I did spent quite some time before arriving at the conclusion and it still remains

“We , The people are corrupt”

Corruption - The origins

Once upon a time there lived a noble king who ruled a tiny little kingdom with a magnificent town as the capital. The king was known for all the good reasons at places far and near . The people were happy and content and there was no beggar ever found in the capital city. The king had trusted lieutenants who cared for the wellbeing of the kingdom and there was no feud or animosity. The state had its army but never really attacked another country.. There was one rule to be followed by all subjects. The gates to the city were to close at sunset and again open at sunrise. This had been the practice since generations and nobody questioned it. Everybody accepted and respected the rule by choice .

Like all kings, our king was getting older and thought that he should relinquish power to his eldest son Naren. Naren was adored by the entire populace and accepted as the rightful heir to the throne. So the prince was coronated and assumed powers.

Naren had been fond of his ‘Dai’ since childhood and wanted to repay for her kindness and love. So he asked her in what way would she want to be repayed. The “dai” was a simple lady with high virtue . She replied “Bless thou O king that you cared for me ! . I donot seek anything for myself . I only pray that my son Deven be allowed to serve thee “. Amen! said the king and made Deven the head gatekeeper for the capital town. His job was to guard the gates and ensure that they are closed and opened at specified times. Devendra was a person of average caliber but made up for the same by his dedication and hardwork,

Once while Deven was guarding the city gates at night, he saw an old man approaching, accompanied by a young girl. Deven stopped them and informed that the city gates are closed and would only open at dawn. The man told Deven that his daughter has been severely ill for past days and that he needed to see the physician urgently. Deven refused to budge but the old man continued begging for an entry. Deven thought for a moment “ What harm could an old man and a sick girl possibly do to my country ?” and allowed the duo an entry into the city. Deven felt a sense of guilt since he had defied the orders and age old tradition ,but took respite in the fact that he helped save the girl’s life . He was thanked by the old man while leaving the next day. The old man and the girl continued to visit for the next few days and returned Deven’s favour in kind which Deven accepted after much persuasion .Finally the girl was cured and went back to her village.

A few days later, Deven was approached by the old man. “ What brings you here ? Are things fine with your daughter ?” asked Deven. “ Thanks for your help” said the old man “ My daughter is completely cured and in good health. I have come to discuss something that would be of mutual benefit”.Deven asked for the motive and here was what the old man had to say “ I live in a village away from here. Every day morning , I gather fresh vegetables from my farm and sell it to nearby villages. From the last few days that I had been visiting your town, I realized that I can do more business here than I do by going around all villages. However, it takes me an entire day to reach the city and the gates are closed by then. So I am not able to sell my vegetables in the town. If only you could do me the favor of allowing entry at night, I can sell all my vegetables very quickly. Besides I bring variety of vegetables which should please your country men”. Deven was hesitant but then thought “ What harm could a vegetable seller bring to my country. Besides I have known him for a few days now and finally, my countrymen would get to eat some variety of vegetables “. So he relented.

Days passed and then months. The vegetable seller was sometimes accompanied by his friend ,a milkman which eventually became a regular feature . Soon the caravan consisted of the vegetable seller, the milkman, the fisherman and all those who benefited from entering the city at night. Deven didn’t have any problems with this. In fact the visitors would often offer “token of appreciation “ to Deven in cash or kind, which Deven would share with his fellow guards. Years went by.Things were going good and nobody seemed to have problem with this. The old man was often accompanied by his daughter Satyavati who by now had come off age . Deven had begun to develop love for her and proposed the old man to marry off his daughter to him. The old man was more than glad to accept the proposal and Satyavati was ceremoniously wedded to Deven. Soon she was appointed as maid at the palace courtesy the “dai”.But all this came with baggage. The old man by now had increased his band to fifty people and would collect fees from them in lieu of permitting entry to the capital town. Some part of the fees were offered to Deven and he most certainly accepted them. After all ,now he had a family to take care off.

Deven’s and Satyavati’s fortunes continued to grow and soon there were whispers about them. . Satyavati would often flaunt precious ornaments which would make quite a few women jealous. The spies had meanwhile suspected something fishy and followed the trail. They soon gathered the complete story and reported to the king. The king was furious and deeply pained. He summoned Deven and all the vendors to the court. After listening to the complete story, the king ordered that the Old man be not allowed an entry into the city ever again. The others were let off with hefty fine. The king was highly pained due to Deven and wanted to punish him severely. However, cognizant to the fact he was the dai’s son , the king demoted Deven and placed him at the palace service. Satyavati was aghast by what had happened. She could not digest the fact that her father and husband had been publicly humiliated . Satyavati was a strong lady and couldn’t take things fallen down. She vowed to avenge for the insult.

Meanwhile, the king issued strict orders that the gates be opened only at dawn and closed at sunset. Whoever defied the orders was to be severely punished. The Deven episode was talk of the town for quite a few days. One of the effects was that people had started questioning the rule of the gates ,albeit in private .It was still obeyed but more out of fear than out of respect or relevance. In fact , some of the entrepreneurs had already started realizing the benefits of an open door policy. It was much easier for them to do business since it enabled them to travel long distances in a day. Also, they could get back at odd hours thereby maximizing their business hours . They started with the activity again ,though in isolation and were helped by one of the guards who had been Deven’s subordinate and had to live with “only” his salary since past few months.

The king had a step brother Viren who by now had developed into a young man and like all step brothers, had his eyes on the throne. Satyavati was smart enough to notice this and developed proximity with Viren . She impressed upon him the need for having people loyal to him if he were to ever stake a claim. And loyalty was to be bought monetarily . Either ways, Viren felt far too humiliated while demanding for his monthly expenses from the king. With tactical approval from Viren, Satyavati created a consortium of businessmen wanting the gates open. They would pay their monthly fees to Viren and were permitted to venture out of the city gates at any time. The security guards and spies were ‘taken care of ‘. This consortium was soon joined by the vendors from outside the city and the trade flourished. Soon the city started witnessing the benefits of this prosperity . However ,with prosperity ,also came vices such as liquor and prostitution and thus started the saga of degeneration .

The king in the meanwhile had been helplessly watching the deterioration of the city and moral fabric of the society. He felt anguished at the situation but things had gone beyond his control. But then he was the king after all and had the final authority. He ordered some of his most loyal guards to take care of the city gates and issued strict orders for adherence to the rules of the gate. By now, many of the people in the city had developed interest in the “gates” either directly or indirectly. This new order was seen as an hindrance to their prosperous lives and immediate action had to be taken. Satyavati, realizing the situation, instigated Viren to stage a coup which was well funded and supported by interested people. Naren was captured and beheaded. Viren was enthroned and there was jubilation in some circles about justice being done.

Once the king, Viren opened the city gates to all ,throughout the day. However, this created a lot more competition for the businessmen, who had so far enjoyed exclusive privilege at the cost of some ‘fee’. He was forced into reversing this rule and did so ,fearing a Naren like fate. A few decades later, one of the descendants tried to free the city of outsiders and self centered businessmen .He wanted to bring back the moral fabric of the society and get back to the days when the king lived. He also tried to enforce the ‘gates rule’ . However, this time ,the businessmen approached a neighboring king ,who was a regular benedictory of the trade .The king threatned to attack if the gates were not left “Untouched”.

Centuries later, after lots of invasions, infighting , satyagrahas , freedom and renaissance , this erstwhile kingdom is now a part of country named India. We still have the policy of closing the gates at night while they are opened for the few…….