India's Starved Sensibilities

That India is a country of people with starved sensibilities got established once again during Hina Rabbani Khar’s recent visit. Turning this crucial Pakistan foreign minister’s visit into a spectacle for frivolous fashion talks clearly tells a lot about the Indian mindset in dealing with females. Her youth, her intelligence, her capabilities, her intentions, all got blurred in the background and what remained in the never-flickering focus were her good looks, her Birkins, her Roberto Cavallis, her pearls, her dresses, her style sense, etc. etc. i.e. every thing that could define her feminity. For every Indian – effectively captured and presented to satisfy the Indian palate by the equally swayed Indian media – she was a female first and nothing beyond that. The sexist attitude of India towards her got more deplorable when many demented Indian minds resorted to describing her as Pakistan’s ploy, sent as a WMD – Woman of Mass Distraction! - to deflect from real political-foreign policies issues. As it is a well know fact about the infamous Indian mindset being the core of The Great Indian Hypocrisy, this malaise manifests in every aspect – facet – of life, in every corner of this great country of ours which prides itself on being worshipper of female Gods i.e. Goddesses.

You have to be a woman to understand it fully – “experience” is the operative term here. Ask any man – a male, I mean; India cannot boast of many “real” men – and he will flatly deny the existence of any such basal trait in “their half” of the population. If you too have any doubts about India’s sufferings, just take a walk around in any public place in any city/town of our so-called cultured country and the happenings will hit you full on.

It is a pretty common scene in any public place in India: lots of people, from all social backgrounds, with varied upbringings, with unequal levels of literacy – education still eludes many – and different economic status, lots of chaos, filth in equal proportion all around, extremely noisy and smelly. There would be more men than women, men again of all types but the “typical” ones dominating the space. By “typical ones” I mean those with “vacant look”, getting accentuated by yellowness of their eyes and brownness of their skin tone, their very ordinary faces bordering on ugliness with hairy skin making them seem absolutely avoidable, smelly body which you could almost “see”, wandering aimlessly till they spot a female – an average, decently dressed one, and not the “inviting” ones – the most self-suited explanation invented by human beings! You witness an instant transformation in their personality: from looking bored and depressed - from “empty eyes” to “hungry eyes” - they start smiling - that lecherous smile which makes you wish death for them. Then they start following her like a dog - their salivating pariah dog like appearance is so pathetic that if law was on your side you could shoot them pointblank. With their now all-active senses they start passing lewd remarks at her and loudly. If words fail them, they take help of film songs, the same songs which have been composed to celebrate something as crude as “eve-teasing” – India’s gift to the world culture! … And not even a single person – I told you in the beginning itself that India is severely deficient in real men – objects to this obscene harassment by men with leech-like attitude and avoids that situation with utter muteness and acquired blindness. The girl tries to run away from the place as fast as she could. And this is not an isolated incident; at the same place at any given point of time, almost all females present there would be facing the same humiliation.

Picture is almost same everywhere; from ordinary places to so called high places. The attitude is same in males representing the entire spectrum of India – well, exception are there but they are in “minority”; gentlemen are a “rarity” in India.

To tell you something interesting: a female wearing sunglasses is a “sight” for Indian males as for them it is a thing of “style” and not for “protection of eyes against harsh sunrays” and for some strange reason they feel extremely excited about it. And believe me, from a person on bitumen – roads – to a male in a BMW, they all behave the same!

But, ask any Indian male and he will deny it flatly. His argument will be – is always – that if India was so bad or unsafe, you wouldn’t be seeing females walking around unescorted. To all such males I have to say only one thing: go home and ask your mother, sister, wife, daughter, whosoever who have in family and you will know the truth. Because being the cynosure of your own mother’s hypocritical vision while growing up, you may have failed to notice that females are not seen around in any place after sunset in order protect herself from predatory behavior of ubiquitously present nocturnal creatures with deep animal instincts. And this has got confirmed by the shameless distinction of India getting rated as the 4^th most dangerous place for women in the world!

Ok, I agree that behavior will vary in degrees depending on a male’s background, but essentially almost all of them remain mentally glued to females around in their environment. The fact that an average Indian male cannot think beyond females is evident from their sex-laced talks; politics and sports come much later if time permits to think “beyond”! It is a different matter that in their entire quest for becoming “attracted to opposite sex”, they have not at all worked on improving their own “attractiveness quotient”. Almost the entire population of Indian males remains as undesirable as ever. I always wonder: how can the “male ego” permit such bizarre behavior that you spend your entire life ogling at female brigade and never ever get to enjoy even a chance glance from the so desired opposite sex? No hurt ego, guys?

This uniquely Indian male behavior stems from the societal belief in male’s superiority in the existential ladder. India wouldn’t be suffering the grossly skewed male:female ratio otherwise. An average Indian doesn’t feel any pain or a sense of sin by indulging into brutal female foeticide. And, even in this 21^st century, India is yet to legislate a criminal penal code for this all-prevalent heinous act.

This belief in male supremacy gets manifested in Indian males’ behavior. It is so deeply entrenched that irrespective of their own living status, they exercise “equality” in their “right to entertainment” through their “object of desire” i.e. females always. He could be a beggar but he will not deny himself his “birth-right” to seriously fantasize about a Bollywood female star!

Nothing can be more ugly than a lecherous Indian male’s face, and more dirty than his mind! And you get to witness these things even while abroad. Their excitement on seeing you, a fellow Indian female, is so palpable that it borders on obnoxiousness. Even in a foreign land you do not feel safe sighting an Indian male. Because for him an Indian female becomes an outlet for connecting to “familiar” and an outpouring for his frustrations of being treated like a “non-entity” by the “superior” whites – foreigners. Their indecent proposals are all visible in their otherwise blank expressions!

Ask any female tourist post her India visit and she will narrate horrifying tales of her harassments, with a “promise” never to return to our great land ever! (Indian Government’s “Atithi Devo Bhavo” ads reflect the same nauseating Indian males’ mindset; I doubt if Aamir Khan has been able to drive home his point in even a single unashamed Indian male’s mind.)

I repeat: all you average Indian males, if you so desire the opposite sex’s attention, first work upon yourself to become “desirable”; otherwise your despicably offensive behavior will keep you in the “unwanted” section forever – and you “appreciating beauty” – yes, Indian females are considered beautiful by all unlike their male counterparts! - with starved sensibilities evident all over your face and in your being!

I wish my fellow Indian males could understand that the cycle of life completes when both man and woman complement each other equally…

Tumhara naam kya hai, Kalmadi?

Tumhara naam kya hai, Kalmadi?

Don’t laugh! This is no Sholay hangover. How else do I call a person who decides to suffer from “dementia”? But I believe him when he proclaims his illness. Now does this mean that from now on he will start behaving in a certain manner befitting his state of mind – brain, I mean?

Will Suresh Kalmadi – I remember his name! – forget that he is a human being? And start behaving like an animal? Will he start using all his four limbs for locomotion? Will he start eating – carnivorous or omnivorous or a vegetarian? – and drinking – will depend on the species he chooses for himself – and sleeping like a lesser evolved creature of the animal kingdom? Also, will he wear only his integument from now on? Clothes may not find any use on him hereafter.

Should Suresh Kalmadi be kept out of his home in his present state of being? Tell me, how can humans cohabit with a non-human? How will he remember his relationships? What if he starts behaving with animal instincts? Can anybody be safe with him around? And, will not putting him within the walls of a home amount to cruelty to animal? Who is going to be ready to bear the brunt ofManeka Gandhi’s ire?

What will he do if he manages to set himself free from Tihar? Which work will be deemed suitable for him? Forget about IOA’s office, even the Parliamentdoesn’t allow any animal inside. Then, can you trust him with a cart, howsoever bullish his attitude may seem to be? Zoo? Not a bad idea! India’s future children may have the fortune to examine an extinct species from such close quarters. He will also be harmful being behind the barbs.

I have another fear. What if he forgets that he had promised to sue Times Nowfor exposing his misdeeds in organizing Common Wealth Games? And decides to hug Arnab Goswami? (Sorry, Arnab; but according to me there is a strong possibility of this happening looking into his current state of existence. So, take care.)

Now, tell me, Mr. Kalmadi, did you too have these thoughts and thus you decided to forget all about your self-inflicted selective-at-will dementia? Try some other trick next time to stay out of Tihar jail.

Wait a minute; I hear him singing loud:

“What’s my name? What’s my name? … My name is Kalmadi, Kalmadi ki jubani …”

May God Bless his soul for entertaining India’s starved sensibilities … :)

My brother Rahul,

My brother Rahul,

You may not know but my sister is a great fan of yours! To me, you are my brother by virtue of being Rajiv uncle’s son. And, therefore, both of us – like millions all across the country, and the world – wish a lot for you! And, expect a lot from you – and rightly so.

Thus, when my sister made a comment on my previous piece “Why is India incredibly helpless, always?” on the recent Bombay serial blasts and in reference to your reaction in same regard that “Rahul should know better what that 1% failure of the government means in tackling terrorism as he has himself suffered a lot because of this 1% lapse in security by losing his father”, I thought you must pay attention to her and amend the things required to be at your end at the earliest.

Rahul, you are destined to become the next prime minister of the country if the Congress / UPA manages to retain power at the Center, which it will in all likelihood. And prime ministership, as you too know well – is not a position; it is a responsibility – lots of that, in fact! Those monumental responsibilities – coupled with accountability – will be towards the country and its citizens and also towards your own party and coalition. As you know, Prime Minister is The Leader of a country, and the “buck stops with him/her”.

Now, Rahul, imagine that you have become the prime minister and are faced with a similar – may be worse – situation of terror attacks on India. (No one believes that 13/7 was the last in sequence of attempts of terrorists.) Even then will you try to defend intelligence failure by making such remarks? And will that not amount to admitting the failure of your government in utilizing the mammoth infrastructure built to deal with all such eventualities? Moreover, do you believe that only admittance will suffice and exonerate you of your accountability towards maintaining peace and security in the nation? And, will the world not wonder at you and your government’s credibility to govern?

On the contrary, Rahul, I am sure that you will beforehand itself ensure that an effective anti-terror mechanism is functional and India is safe and secure and peaceful. Because, you very well realize that tackling terror is a “zero-error” and zero-tolerance” business.

So, Rahul, would you now care to “clarify” your statement in the press and let people know that you did not mean to disrespect the victims and their families and certainly did not try to defend the indefensible intelligence and administrative failure of the government in preventing the always-anticipated terror attacks?... Do it; you will benefit immensely in the long run by regaining whatever respect you have lost in public eyes, and hearts.

Rahul, as I said, India has lot of expectations from you – and rightly so. You have the fortune of inheriting the political gene pool of Nehru-Gandhi families and are all set to become the next prime minister of the country, as important in the global arena as India. But for this almost certain dream to come true, you will have to demonstrate to the nation and the world that you truly deserve the top post. Not that you have not already done so; however, you need to do more – much more.

You should start, Rahul, by strengthening Congress’ foundation in the political field and regaining its national party identity. Congress’ national base has got eroded badly. Reclaiming it would be a huge challenge. To make it happen you have to have dedicated politicians with high degree of integrity and support at state headquarters who would in turn work at the grassroots level and organize the party and make it strong enough to stand – and win – on its own. Congress cannot claim to be a national party by walking on coalition crutches – and being in coalition clutches, therefore! “Coalition compulsions” will otherwise keep pulling down the Congress and it will never be able to reclaim its foothold in the national political landscape.

Rahul, for this huge task, you need credible and able people – politicians. Politicians who are young, educated, clean, and have a dream and ambition for India – and not for their own self. As you too know, India is at the cusp of great things in the world. Being touted as one of the major powers of the world is a great responsibility as well as we will be required to live upto that image. By being seen as an utterly corrupt and chaotic country, a country which lacks courage to defend itself is going to be hugely detrimental in the progress of our country, both economically and politically. India will never be regarded as a “developed” and powerful nation – forget about the global leadership role that it envisages for itself - in the foreseeable future and that would be a big setback to all our global aspirations.

At the micro-level, Rahul, i.e., at the public level, the single most important expectation from any government at the helm is good governance. A government which is capable of delivering on its promises and needs of the people and society. A government which is courageous enough to maintain country’s dignity and security amidst growing fundamentalism and extremism. A government which will reverse India’s impression of being a “soft target” and will showcase to the evil elements that India will not tolerate any breach in its safety, security and peace and will not suffer losing even a single life to terrorism. A government which will exhibit “zero-tolerance” towards sinister plans of terror forces and will ensure a “zero-error” anti-terror mechanism to prevent even that 1% attack chance.

Rahul, I don’t have to tell you the obvious things that you are in a position even without being the prime minister today to actualize all the necessary things – for the Congress and the country, and in the process, enhance you worthiness as the future prime ministerial candidate of the country.

India is a young country and a young prime minister like you, Rahul, will do wonders, about which I do not have even 1% doubt! But you need to prepare yourself, sincerely and seriously…Rajiv uncle, and Sonia aunty & Priyanka, of course, besides my sister and I would be very proud of you J

Why is India incredibly helpless, always?

Terror has struck India again, Bombay to be precise. (Bal Thackeray would want to impose his diktat even today that I say Mumbai instead of Bombay!) And the spectacle in India is absolutely on the expected lines: serial blasts, people killed, chaos all around, victims shifted to hospitals, media frenzy, 24x7 coverage, news headlines screaming “Resilient Mumbai” / “Life goes on in Mumbai” / “Mumbai back at work” / “Indomitable Spirit of Mumbai lives on” / etc. etc., condolences expressed by political leaders in the same words as used post every such previous terror attacks, candle light homage by people, anger and frustration of population – Bombayiites in the current case, again – aired on news channels non-stop, press briefing by security agencies, PM’s “stern” statement that “perpetrators of terror should (?!) be brought to justice”, international condemnation – especially by the US and the UN, visit to hospitals and blast sites by top political leaders, criticism of Pakistan and our own country’s Pak-policy by the Opposition, … and the life will go on, as always, till yet another terror attack strikes Bombay or any other part of India…

This is India. Incredible, isn’t it?

The sequence of events post a terror strike is almost same in any other nation on this earth. The difference, however, lies in the fact that elsewhere such attacks is followed by actions by the government - unlike in India.

In India, on the contrary, crores of taxpayers’ money is being spent to protect the biggest terrorist caught on the Indian soil so far. That is Ajmal Kasab for the world, the terrorist whose remorseless acts of massacres on the night of 26/11 in 2008 is still fresh in mind of public, but our esteem judiciary fails to get convinced that the evidence caught on close circuit cameras are adequate to fast track his verdict and his hanging. It is shocking to see that instead of punishing the perpetrator, our country is hell bent on showcasing its “top of the world” criminal justice system to the world by protecting a terrorist! So what if in the process India has managed to throw away its responsibilities towards protection of its citizens and delivering justice to victims’ families? So what if in the process India has succeeded in sending a strong signal to terrorists all across the world the it is okay to target the country at will because our nation lacks courage to safeguard itself?

This is India. Incredible, isn’t it?

What perplexes me the most is India’s utter helplessness in all such situations!

Why cannot we act tough? Why cannot we tell the terrorists that “enough is enough” and that they stay clear of India? Why cannot we crackdown on terror outfits, within our boundaries and beyond if need be? Why cannot we let our neighbors – Pakistan and other surrounding nations - know that they “behave”? Why cannot we bolster our intelligence systems further? Why cannot we use “actionable” intelligence to fend off any probable attack? Why cannot we work in a coordinated manner to safeguard India? Why cannot we put a functional anti-terror mechanism in place? Why cannot we put adequate pressure on the US to stop supporting – using - Pakistan to suit its narrow global aspirations and in turn turn almost a blind eye to its terror activities? Why cannot we tell the US to stop funding Pakistan till it aborts its terror exports? Why cannot we relook at our foreign policies and forge strong alliances with other important nations and take their support on issues concerning global terrorism, affecting India the most? Why cannot we use the UN platform to put our case strongly in front of the world? Why …???

The swiftness we exhibit in naming all such attack dates as 26/11, 13/7 now – obviously inspired by 9/11 – and then conveniently forgetting about it a few days later to everybody’s bliss is the most disgusting aspect of our dealing with terror attacks.

There are numerous “whys” but before we get answers to all these and more, we will have to demonstrate to the world – and terrorists in particular – that we value an Indian’s life! That we will not tolerate loss of even a single life in hands of a terrorist! That if any terrorist tries to act funny, we will crush the entire terror infrastructure! That we will not permit any breach of our security and safety and peace and that anybody indulging into it will face severe consequences!

But most importantly, we will have to show to the world – and the terrorists in particular – that we will not hide behind the “resilience” curtains anymore! That we will act and act tough!

Ok, all these sound pretty politically patriotic rhetoric; and that is precisely what we have to avoid. We have to act!

By the way, what are all these talks of “resilience” and “spirit of Mumbai”? What do we expect the Mumbaikars to do the day after? Sit at home and watch endless coverage on television? For how long? Is there any other option than going to work the next day? Wouldn’t all of us if caught in a similar situation do the same? Have we not witnessed a similar response in other Indian cities as well? Or, seen people reacting in similar fashion in terror-struck international cities for that matter?

Let us stop indulging into such mindless discussions and even thoughts of “resilience” and “spirit”.

Let us not act victim anymore; instead, let us show courage and act tough against terrorism.

Let us start by hanging Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru immediately. I am sure that if the government is trying to play minority appeasement political card here by putting both of these hardcore terrorists in death “row” - and that is what the GOI is doing exactly - then the Supreme Court should intervene. It is high time. India needs to see justice delivered; and, a closure to 26/11.

I hate seeing India act “helpless” …

Baba Ramdev and his 5-star Satyagraha!

The setting was perfect: Ramlila Ground, therefore, it had to be high drama by the protagonist along with his protesters! …

The desire for a pie in the Anti-Corruption Movement was so intense inBaba Ramdev that no sooner Anna Hazare wound up at Jantar Mantar, the politically ambitious Baba Ramdev announced his “fast-unto-death” campaign against black money. It was bound to be interesting to see theYoga guru add another chapter to India’s crusade against corruption. There was never any doubt about his ability to mobilize his supporters - he has them in abundance - to force the Indian government to enact laws to bring back the massive amount of ill gotten money stashed away in foreign banks and tax havens abroad. Like Anna, he too was bound to get relentless media coverage. Interesting, however, was also the probable response of the Indian public to a new episode of Dharna-in-Delhi; also important was to see the handling capabilities of the government. (The issue, nevertheless, is that a stubbornly arrogant Indian government does not relent till it is forced to do so – like Anna did.) And the outcome of Baba’s so-called fast turned out to be exactly what I had envisaged!

With great difficulty Anna Hazare had succeeded in waking up the perennially sleeping Indians to stand up for their country; in my living memory it was for the first time that Indians had come out in full force to fight against corruption. It was heartening to see an average Indian - who has been otherwise quite comfortable with his/her corruption surrounded existence – adopt the word“crusade” in his/her vocabulary of daily living.

Then came Baba with a clear mission to hijack people’s platform in order to further his political aspirations – though he vehemently denies this charge. And thus the country witnessed a new look crusade being staged in an air-conditioned ambiance – all with public money snatched forcibly by Baba’s menin name of providing comforts to the congregating protesters in a “hot” Delhi!

More bizarre was the manner in which the government of India attempted to tackle it. First it tried to woo Baba by rushing senior ministers – including the finance minister! - as soon he alighted from his private jet at the Delhi airport. It seemed of be greatly wary of the sheer number of his followers. When the placating policy failed, it tried to strike a secret deal with him in the setting of a plush 5-star hotel and succeeded in getting a hand written assurance from him to stop his agitation. Baba, not satisfied with the attention he had got so far, tried to garner as much political mileage out of the event as possible and thus took au-turn on his words and decided to continue his protest. In response, when the government tried to convince the country of the patch-up by waving his letter in a press conference, Baba levied charges on the government and called it a “liar”which, as we all know by now, did not go down too well with it. Police was sent to chase away the protesters with a midnight crackdown. The scene became hugely chaotic with Media broadcasting live the mayhem. Sleeping people were forcefully evicted and even Baba was forced to flee the ground in disguise. The political theater, famously called the Theatre of the Absurds, was at it best!

By using force on peaceful protesters – though no one was injured with mild lathi-charge and tear gas shells – the government with its highly unimaginative move has inadvertently relinquished its grace and moral rights to be a proponent of aam-aadmi, and has allowed Baba to seize the opportunity to garner unwarranted credence for his campaign. And the scene of drama has shifted to Haridwar for now, with his followers openly supporting “the person” and not “the cause”. In addition, the saffron brigade hooking onto the bandwagon and trying to give it a communal hue is the most disturbing aspect. If left unchecked, it has the potential to scuttle Anna’s movement and provide chances to unscrupulous to gain undue advantages by exploiting gullible population’s sentiments.

Though in a country where corruption had long back ceased to make any“news” till Team Anna shook them up from their siesta, a hugely popular figure like Baba Ramdev taking up the cause of corruption could have strengthened civil society’s crusade, if only his intentions were genuine. On the contrary, Baba’s 5-star campaign has in fact rendered the term impotent, though temporarily. The legitimacy of the agitation has become doubtful. The seriousness of the purpose which is always the driving force behind all such movements looks to have got diluted in Baba’s case completely.

To say the least, I am happy at the developments.

I was never comfortable with Baba Ramdev’s foray into the “movement” area because his credibility as a serious campaigner for country’s cause was always a big question mark. To me he seemed to be an opportunist who wanted to ride the wave of public support and garner a footing in the political landscape of the country. I never believed him when ever he tried to proclaim his so-called detachment to politics in spite of floating a political party, his so-called philanthropic effort to cleanse the country of corruption. His claim to the cause as a co-crusader seemed illegitimate as he is known to have amassed massive wealth the sources of which are still unknown. And then his attempt at redefining the way to conduct a campaign: 5-star Satyagraha! I am sure Mahatma Gandhi must be amused up there!

The contrast between Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev could not have been starker!

Though I do not believe in public display of sentiments, nevertheless, I pledge my full support to Team Anna and promise to be on fast in solidarity – at home and in office due to professional compulsions – the next time they embark on their fast protest for the Lokpal Bill. …

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P.S.: Let’s not forget that in today’s times of crusades, the one entity which deserves the maximum credit for initializing it in India is the Media, especiallyArnab Goswami at Times Now who with his courageous campaigns against corruption forced the government to relent and act and inspired the activists like Anna Hazare! …

Lokpal Bill and an Incorruptible India?!

I start with thanking Anna Hazare and all founding members of “India Against Corruption” for giving India its much awaited Lokpal Bill, finally! Well, now that the government of India has relented fearing further erosion in its public support base, and with a determined Anna and Co. there to ensure its formulation and subsequent passage in the Parliament, the Lokpal Bill will see the light of the day. (So what if it took more than 42 years? It is never too late for any thing, including the Lokpal Bill!)

Now that we have the Lokpal Bill, the moot question remains: Is Lokpal Bill the Panacea against Corruption?

NO. Let’s admit it honestly. Lokpal Bill is the first step in that direction, nevertheless. Its sincere and fair implementation will determine its effectiveness and purpose, and ultimate success; the chances of which are extremely grim, to say the least.

Well, we know the reasons.

We don’t have to do an autopsy of our systems – the monumentally corrupt systems are very much alive! – to discover that the chronic malaise is a multi-organ phenomenon and is indeed widespread and deep-seated. Also, we do not have to do gene-mapping of our country to realize that the etiology of the disease is a DNA mutation leading to the corrupt-chromosome getting embedded into the nucleus of the nation!

Let us also not forget the global positioning of India and here I am not talking about “Incredible India” which sounds as hollow as the “India Shining” slogan! Today I am simply reminding every one of us of the infamous tagline on India: 100 mein se 90 beyiman, phir bhi mera Bharat mahaan! (90 out of 100 are corrupt, still my India is great!) … Majority of the Indians behave like an opportunist microorganism: depending on the scope and scale of corruption, they derive their share!

Frankly speaking, to believe that because the Indians came out in full support to Anna Hazare’s fast-unto-death protest Indians have got re-mutated to their Non-Corrupt Avatar would be like living in an illusory India! (Sounds good; could replace “Incredible” in India’s slogan!)

Indian history is witness to a few such contemporary revolutions. In my living memory Mandal Commission was the first such incident which succeeded in mobilizing a large population base to protest which was followed by a repeat show at Ayodhya and resurfaced occasionally in form of support for quotas/reservations etc. Election Reforms Bill (not the actual terminology) also got huge support from the public of India. The recent radical change was witnessed in form of passing of the RTI Act. All these could have served as catalysts for elemental and permanent changes in fabric of India and its establishments i.e. overall polity and society, but none of these served the actual purpose for which it was meant. On the contrary, all such amendments and bills etc. accomplished dividing the society further. Worse, these also succeeded in keeping the downtrodden exactly at the bottom of the societal pyramid where they have belonged to since centuries! And not to forget the most dangerous of them all: in spite of a resurgent election commission we continue to elect criminals ‘by hook or by crook’! (i.e. by hooch or by cooker! Please refer to the forthcoming Tamil Nadu polls in case you are unable to get the drift!) And the corrupt have continued to amass unlimited wealth through malpractices and colossal corruption! (Kalmadi, Raja, Hasan Ali … every one seems to be in a competition to out win every body else!)

Thus to believe that all ills will be cured just by signing of the Jan Lokpal Bill is the height of naivety and extreme form of foolishness!

Therefore, first and foremost, we need to cleanse our systems – both politically and socially – to be able to bury the demon of corruption. Because, Lokpal or something else, it is the Indians who are going to be at the helm of affairs majority of who would come from the same corrupt gene-pool! Otherwise, to say that the Lokpal Bill too will remain rusting and corruption will continue to thrive will be an understatement. And, remember, Anna will not be around forever for us to fast-unto-death for every change we desire!

In fact we need to change our attitude fundamentally. Like charity, NO TO CORRUPTION has to start from self; the change has to come from within; in every day of our life. Let’s pledge not to give any bribe for any personal cause or gains. Let’s also make a resolve that no matter what the allure, we will not let the honest core of our being – and India’s foundations - get corroded with corruption. Let’s get over our comfort with corruption. We, as a society and a nation, will shun corruption completely and start celebrating honesty and integrity. We will banish all corrupt to margins of the society. The spectrum of India will have no iota of corruption in it.

Then only real change will come to India – Change we can believe in! Else, after every few years we will keep getting motivated to crowd near the India Gate and the Gateway of India and other landmarks of the country in front of numerous television cameras and non-stop coverage and may succeed in forcing the then government with hoarse sloganeering to enact some crucial bill and then we will go back to sleep dreaming of more money for ourselves by “whatever it takes/gives”!

If we do not change – ourselves and our country - India will keep struggling in the solid grip of corruption. Because in such a scenario/society where corruption is rampant, though an average corrupt citizen gets a little ‘extra’ amount to so-called stash away and enjoy life with in a ‘limited’ sense of the term, the real beneficiaries continue to be the ultimate looters – players in corridors of power and position – politicians, bureaucrats, police, businesses, and other high and mighty of the society, people who are masters in the game of manipulations – all done with the sole goal of self gratification. The rest of the average Indian citizenry – corrupt or non-corrupt – continue to suffer rigmarole of daily life immensely tainted with corrupt colors and stay squeezed in tentacles of corruption; there is no recourse for anybody in a corrupt country.

Living a corruption-free life is not difficult. It just a matter of practice and getting used to a better life – a life with dignity and free from manipulations; a life filled with honesty and integrity and sincerity and prosperity and peace and happiness – for all.

These are not sermons; these are what everybody in non-corrupt parts of the world experiences and enjoys! And we too can!

Because only an “Incorruptible India” can be an “Incredible India”!

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Anna, your Annagiri will prove to be a viable channel for fast-unto-death-of-corruption!

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Anna, I know now why you love to fast! Ann-na means “no ann” i.e no grains! ... And, "annshan" means "shun" the "ann"!

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Anna, I salute your strength; even after 97 hours of non-stop fasting, you looked and sounded absolutely strong! That’s the mettle of a true leader!

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To all those so-called leaders who boast of a popular base on twitter/facebook: just accept my challenge to gather so many people in support of a cause espoused by you in your tweet or on your facebook page - in a public place and away from the glare of television cameras – and force the GOI to act in favour; I will accept you as my leader!

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World’s revolutions have been fought primarily by youth but have almost always been led by matured leaders!

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And it was no twitter-facebook revolution; it was a pure people’s revolution; revolution of all those people who bothered to come to India Gate and Gateway of India and other designated places in solidarity with Anna’s cause. Because if the GOI relented, it was under the sheer pressure of losing its voters base – of whatever is left of.

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And it was Media’s movement also because if the Indian media had not highlighted Anna Hazare’s fast through non-stop coverage, this event would have also died down like previous many such protests.

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The success of Anna’s crusade proves two things: that if the people of India “will”, they “can”; secondly, the Indian media can play the role of a real crusader for all the desired changes in India!

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Finally, a slogan for the second round of Indian revolution, if need be (and chances would be many!): Kudos to Anna and Judo (kicks) to politicians! (My sister has the copyright to it!) J

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Anna, India is with you in your fast-unto-death-of-corruption! And we love your Annagiri!

Today I feel proud as an Indian. Because today I believe that we Indians can stand up, stand up for ourselves. It’s always frustrating and annoying to see India hugely comfortable with everything corroding the very foundations of our great nation – corruption being the most corrosive of all malaise. But today I am sensing an assurance about the scent of change having reached our shores, finally, and that we will see the Change we want.

And the credit is Anna Hazare’s! It is immensely satisfying to see Indians, young Indians especially, respond to Anna’s call of fight against corruption and be with him, in real space and time and in the virtual domain as well. From Jantar Mantar in Delhi to Facebook, Twitter and Blogs in the social media, Indian youth is pledging support to this modern day Mahatma. And whoever said Gandhigiri was dead and ineffective in today’s times should see Anna reinvent it for India once again as Annagiri!

Only a couple of months back, 27^th Jan’11 to be precise, I had expressed my views on “India Poised for Revolution??? It is High Time …”. It was upon seeing India’s and Indian Media’s shocking indifference to the then ongoing movement in Tunisia and Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle-East.

Without repeating my views, I simply put the link here in case you want to read my point of view.

http://anjuchandel.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/india-poised-for-revolution-its-high-time/

Nevertheless, I would like to enumerate a few important points.

First, the current activism against corruption in India is direct fallout of the success of Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. I am happy that the unfolding events in the Middle East could succeed in inspiring us Indians - finally. And we are indebted to “India Against Corruption” campaign coupled with Anna Hazare’s peaceful protest in form of fast.

It was the success of people’s revolution in Egypt and Tunisia and the revolt in Libya besides in Bahrain, Yemen and elsewhere that ignited minds of a few credible social activists like Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi and the germination of the “idea of revolution” in form of a forum called “India Against Corruption”. The support to this initiative was huge and immediate – on Facebook especially, which, frankly, was a bit surprising to me as I had always believed that Indians lacked the spine to stand for themselves and their country.

Second, the role of Indian Media has to be given its due credit. The fact that Anna Hazare’s “fast-unto-death” protest has become such a hit and has created such a sensation and furor in the political and public arena is because the Indian media – television in particular – took it up wholeheartedly. Through their non-stop coverage, Media is once again reiterating its own campaign against cancerous corruption.

Do not forget that the real crusade against the chronic gangrene called corruption was in effect initiated by Time Now’s shocking exposes about monumental levels of wrongdoings in the Commonwealth Games preparations which had the maximum impact. The channel sustained its relentless and fearless coverage in spite of immense pressure from all “concerned” to stop it from doing the same. The actual credit at Times Now – rather in the Media – of course, is of Arnab Goswami’s who has been the real crusader who spearheaded the media movement against corruption with his sheer courage. His forceful ways led the other Media houses to adopt his ways of news reporting which started a viral in “nail the corrupt” campaigns on various news channels. I greatly admire his guts to take the all powerful systems head on and put enough pressure on the government to ACT through his relevant and strong debates.

And to all those courage-less cynics who are maliciously labeling the increasing uproar as "media created" drama, that I am proud of my Media as they are doing just what they are supposed to do: act as the 4th Estate of our functional Democracy!

Thus, to tell truthfully, I have full faith in the fact that Anna’s movement will continue to gain momentum and will become so big and inclusive and encompassing that the otherwise deliberately deaf-dumb government will feel its serious heat soon. In fact it has already started being felt. Sharad Pawar had to step down from the GoM on corruption. However, it is just an eyewash but not insignificant, to say the least. He should, as Anna said, resign from the ministry as well because only a few cabinet members can match him in managing corruption to suit his personal gains! And not only him; all politicians – ministers or not a minister yet – are utterly corrupt and, therefore, do not have the moral right to be on the panel. The forum has to have credible civil society members from all walks of life.

But what is perplexing is the foolish attitude of the government of India towards handling this issue. Their defiance is going to further and seriously erode whatever credibility they are left with. In stead of sounding and acting arrogant, the GOI should have immediately called a cabinet meeting and would have constituted a special committee inviting Anna Hazare – rather met him at the Jantar Mantar – and his fellow revolutionaries for sincere and honest discussions, leading to final drafting of the Lokpal Bill. Special session of the Parliament should have been called and the Bill should have been passed. Because, one thing is written on the wall: there is no going back now; Lokpal Bill has to be finalized in the required manner and passed ASAP.

Finally, to repeat myself, I feel proud of my India today because finally we have woken up against the gangrene of corruption. And we have Anna Hazare to thank for waking up a historically and perennially sleeping India from its comfort-cocoon as far as corruption is concerned. From being labeled as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, we have to demonstrate that we are capable of cleansing the systems including our physical system – remember, it is infamously said that corruption has got embedded in the DNA of Indians!

I am 100% sure that Anna's crusade will become watershed in rewriting India's destiny. And Jantar Mantar, as is being said, has already become India's Tahrir Square. We just have to sustain our steam and free India of all its ills. Its time ...

It’s time the GOI also woke up to the harsh political and social realities and listen to the growing chorus of India against corruption and forgo its inability coupled with unwillingness to handle this situation with integrity and honesty. Otherwise, they will repent soon because India is not going to take their corruption-tainted autocratic and arrogant ways anymore. We will take this crusade against corruption to its final conclusion. After all, we have the fundamental right to a corruption-free life!

It’s time for Change, Change towards a corruption-free India! … From being an “Invertebrate India” we have to reclaim being an “Incredible India”!

It’s Time …

Anna, carry on your fast-unto-death-of-corruption! India is with you, Anna J