Be Selfish 2 Join the Hands

While reading about how blackmailing being done by an individual is paralyzing the

democracy and how it will set a wrong precedence, few thoughts cropped up in my mind. What justifies the act of Lord Rama killing Bali from behind while he was fighting with Sugreeva? What justifies the act of Yudhishthira lying (though indirectly) that Ashwathama is no more, which cost Dronacharya his life?? Let’s come to the present, if the bullet fired produces the same result, why does it matter that whether it is fired by a soldier or by a terrorist? All these questions are answered by a single sentence from the Bhagavad-Gita “It is not the way of doing the things but the purpose behind that deed which decides whether it is right or wrong”.

Look at us; we didn’t question the blackmailing done a terrorist who hijacked the plane, because using power they left us with no option. But if that blackmailing is being done for a noble cause in a peaceful way then it reminds us about our power and we start questioning it. In developed countries even presidents are under scanner of independent committee which looks after corruption, does it means that democracies are paralyzed? By the way, for whom this democracy is, isn’t it for people? Or are people for democracy? Unless there is something wrong with it, millions of people would not have come to the streets without any vested interest. Then is this so called paralyzing of democracy (headed by a paralyzed prime minister who lacks freedom of speech) is a wrong thing for a cause which is haunting millions of people?

What about setting a wrong precedence? What if everybody started going to hunger strike? Well answer to this question is also simple. What will happen if someone decides to go on hunger strike till death, unless Miss India is made to marry him? Needless to say, his name will die hungry (as no one will attach his name to that of theirs) with him. This Gandhian weapon (fasting) becomes useless, unless the cause for which it is used has the capability to touch millions of lives. Our politicians (won’t say leaders) have no other excuse; hence they are using this baseless defence. And when our smart politicians become clueless, they remind us about the theory of foreign hand.

But, why is corruption so rampant in India? Why one has to pay  bribe for a proof that he is alive(birth certificate) and after being dead, your closed ones have to pay the bribe for a proof that now he is having good time with those Apsaras in the heaven or with Yamraj in the hell (Hope corruption has not reached there).Why access to education depends on your ability to pay  fees rather than your intelligence quotient(The word ‘donation’ is used as if you are running with dilemma, what to do with the extra money you have).

This raises few questions. Are we corrupt by birth, inheriting those genes of corruption? Or are we corrupt by choice? For most of us, the answer is a big ‘No’. A traffic constable becomes corrupt because his salary fell short to cater to the dreams of his children (If at all he can afford to have one) in this corrupt society. Like that traffic constable, most of us travel the path we would not like, in order to meet the undying demands of this modern and corrupt society. And once that path is chosen, there is no way back but a dead end. For those in power, more the power they have, greater is the need for them to feed the power. If you kept power hungry, it will eat you. And they fearlessly do it as they are damn sure about our ‘short term social memory loss’, they are sure that we will enjoy the drama about the scams on the news channels, not even realizing that we have sponsored that drama.    

Why the hell, I am talking about corruption? Why should I give it a damn, when my CTC is enough to take care of the bribes to be paid and my wife is also earning (The term house wife is dying naturally in metro cities, as the luxury of having house wife is not affordable) and a quote in a bracket, I am also one of the beneficiary of corruption either by not paying taxes or by some other indirect means (Do I need to mention?).Wait, there is more to it. As long as you are not one of those big sharks in this corrupt world (who makes tons of black money), you are always paying more than what you are gaining from corruption. How?

Why economy is growing at 8% whereas inflation is growing at almost 14%? Why national income since independence has multiplied by only a few folds whereas the cost of land (or flat) skyrocketed thousand folds? It is simply because the black money which comes from corruption is fuelling the demand, taking it beyond our reach. It is this corruption which is making you spend considerable part of your life in travelling (enjoying the body odour of fellow commuter while exchanging yours) as you can’t afford a place in the heart of the city. It is this corruption which makes you think hundred times before having second child as you may not afford it (Don’t even dare to dream about the third one).It is this corruption which adds meaning to the word ‘Higher’ education, taking it higher, beyond the reach of the common man.   

It is this corruption which makes a mother advice his son who is working away from her in a metro city “Beta, don’t travel by train and prefer autorikshaw over bus”, as those caring eyes have read somewhere that there were bombasts in trains and buses. How is terrorism related to corruption? There is no terrorist attack in America since 2001, because they have the infrastructure which can detect any terror suspect. In our case, this corruption prevents building the infrastructure which can counter the terrorism. It was corruption and not terrorism which cost a senior police officer(Mr.Karakare) his life as he get caught almost naked with that substandard life saving jacket (which itself lacked life).See the miracle, after some time, that jacket became invisible in government custody (Don’t worry, a committee is searching the cause and soon it will also become invisible).

The problem with us Indians is that too much of technical details bore us. Few of the suggestions proposed in Lokpal are really good such as, processing all the corruption cases within two years (Boforse case is pending since last 25 years), putting all the government employees under scanner with deadlines defined to complete the work, if the Lokpal committee member has corruption allegations then within two months, he will face an enquiry and action if required. Nothing in this world is perfect; everything has its pros and cons. By doing the things we are doing since last 60 years, we can’t expect change. Even if it has the potential of reducing the corruption by 1%, it is worth giving a shot.

As rightly said by Napoleon “A nation suffers not because of deeds of wrong people but because of silence of good people”. Let’s break that silence. It took us 200 years to be free from those foreigners whereas to be completely free from this corruption which is deeply rooted inside us, it may take another hundreds of years. The journey of thousand miles begins with a single step. Let’s take that step, who knows being optimistic and hoping against the hope, our future generations may see India as a place where one does not have to be corrupt or immoral to reach the top, one does not have to question the integrity of a person from specific religion who boarded a train and one does not have to leave the country for better opportunities.

Be selfish (as we all are); join hands for a noble cause if not for the person who has nothing to gain at the age of 74, being bachelor and spending most of his life in a small temple (Look at the irony, a Maharshtrian put Gandhi era to an end, where as another Maharashtrian is keeping him alive through his values). Let’s ensure that this spark generated turns into a wild fire which will burn this evil which is still keeping our country ‘developing’.  

Don’t you think the time has come to stop crying that nothing will change but to bring the change??

What say??

Cheers!!!

Mahesh Godse