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”