I wish RK Laxman was in his heyday right now.. The 2G/3G scam combined with the Anna Hazare/Baba Ramdev drama would have been excellent fodder for him! I'm sure he'd have come up with something like this, albeit with the ubiquitous common man overlooking the scene...
It is an apt portrayal of times where fasting has become some sort of a business.. an activity to achieve a self-satisfying objective.. a tool for whipping up mass hysteria and emotionally blackmailing a government which is already infested by the white ants of ‘Breaking News’ hungry 24/7 media.
I understand that corruption is indeed the bane of our society and it does seem to have reached a point beyond reasonable tolerance limits. However, it is a cultural issue and can’t be cured overnight by staged dramas in the garb of fasting. This is akin to saying that a dish made wrongly can be set right by just putting some tadka. Issues like this require extensive public debate and a considered, rational approach. Not the emotionally-charged, quick-fixing that fasts like these can at best yield. Fasts blind the public to one approach without logical reasoning or awareness. How many of us who supported Anna Hazare actually bothered to know what exactly is the lokpal bill? How many amongst the few aware souls pondered upon alternative ways to combat corruption?
We owe our nation a stable and sustainable solution to corruption – one that has been arrived at by a thoughtful and aware public, not a fancy and ambitious plan with so many loopholes that falls flat in the implementation phase!
Having said that, fasts have been a useful political tool from the time of Mahatma Gandhi and should not be overlooked in a hurry! They have their own place in determining the direction of public policy. Going by past experience, they have been turning points for mass-movements that shape history. However, they should not be used as short-cuts to subvert a long-drawn movement. It should be borne in mind that they should not become weapons of lobbying or enforcing one’s point of view. They should just be used to mobilize the people and synergize their energies towards a common public goal of a corruption-free, civic and equitable society.
I understand that corruption is indeed the bane of our society and it does seem to have reached a point beyond reasonable tolerance limits. However, it is a cultural issue and can’t be cured overnight by staged dramas in the garb of fasting. This is akin to saying that a dish made wrongly can be set right by just putting some tadka. Issues like this require extensive public debate and a considered, rational approach. Not the emotionally-charged, quick-fixing that fasts like these can at best yield. Fasts blind the public to one approach without logical reasoning or awareness. How many of us who supported Anna Hazare actually bothered to know what exactly is the lokpal bill? How many amongst the few aware souls pondered upon alternative ways to combat corruption?
We owe our nation a stable and sustainable solution to corruption – one that has been arrived at by a thoughtful and aware public, not a fancy and ambitious plan with so many loopholes that falls flat in the implementation phase!
Having said that, fasts have been a useful political tool from the time of Mahatma Gandhi and should not be overlooked in a hurry! They have their own place in determining the direction of public policy. Going by past experience, they have been turning points for mass-movements that shape history. However, they should not be used as short-cuts to subvert a long-drawn movement. It should be borne in mind that they should not become weapons of lobbying or enforcing one’s point of view. They should just be used to mobilize the people and synergize their energies towards a common public goal of a corruption-free, civic and equitable society.
9 comments:
First things first, I loved the NIFT funda... Very witty I must say :P
On a more serious note, I completely agree with you on this issue. Very well written indeed :)
What I feel is that corruption has increased so much in the country because the corrupt knows, given India's extremely slow and corrupt judiciary, they will never be punished and the press and the public will soon forget about the issue. The Lokpal bill is an attempt to give speedy and logical judgement after properly assessing the merit of every corruption case. But majority of the people are unaware of the real reason behind Anna Hazare's Satyagraha and were blindly following him just for the sake of revolution.
Dude,
Nothing against the article, well written ofcourse, but coming to maturity, it will become cliched, no matter how much you write, or talk. Its like Calvin's quotes
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
No matter what, or who is in power, till the time there is Mankind, there is going to be this greed, and there is going to be corruption.
The reason for being alive is to be Self obsessed, its the only differentiating virtue of mankind :
Self obsession is just increasing thanks to social media, and thats why you see more "intolerance"
I believe intolerance comes basically by the fact, " I cannot do it" syndrome.
Well honestly we always tell " Mera Bharant Mahan" Bharat and Mahan is not important " its MERA" that is ... Who cares how is " Tera Bharat Mahan " hai ya nahi.
Or priceless is the one. " I love you" .... May be i am dangeroulsy flirting with the idea, we even fall in love because " we" are happy when in love...or else we wont :|
All said and done, take the "I" of the alphabet structure, me out of the context, myself out of the world, We might succeed in whatever we want.
Or else we just acknowledge we are self obsessed and go behind our materialistic thoughts
@Sangh- Thanks :) You can't just simply pull out the bureaucracy out of India and her administrative systems.. you need a grass-roots cultural change.. ppl need to become less bureaucratic by mindset.. Then things will be more transparent and ethical.
@Anuj - Nice way to put it mate, but easier said than done.. Pull out the I and you have a purely communist form of society.. A country of averages.. I think capitalism is beautiful and in pure capitalism, there can be no room for corruption.. There is corruption because there's so much of state intervention in the market economy!
Capitalism has no corruption ?
Hmmm even if i with my 6 year old rocket underpants, believe that Capitalism does not have corruption.
I can atleast with vehemence say , Then it aint worth Capitalism....
US is ur example :) :) capitalism, is just an average man's tool of pretending to be a genius,
When the whole world was bleeding, INdia and China boomed ? The topmost corrupt nation...tells something :)
Haha.. u missed the word 'Pure' mate :) Just think of a PURELY capitalistic society.. Everything is market-driven.. Govt will hav no role to play in the economy! There would be no babus or middle-men whose palms we could grease.. Anyway, that kinda society is the stuff of dreams!
Oh! And India and China are just enjoying the fruits of their demographic dividend.. They could have boomed much more without corruption!
hmmmm if u don think this is a good enuf way.....how else do u think corruption can b killed?
It doesnt matter if ppl r nto aware of the Lokpal bill content unless they r ready to stand by Anna...and I think we need to ATLEAST support a cause like this instead of beign a critic and finding loopholes. you r saying corruption cant b killed overnight, yes it cant be...atleast slowly we shud try to kill it right? any initiative towards that is good acc to me....
SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!
Fasting is not an easy thing...u mus kno better ;-)
hmmmm if u don think this is a good enuf way.....how else do u think corruption can b killed?
It doesnt matter if ppl r nto aware of the Lokpal bill content unless they r ready to stand by Anna...and I think we need to ATLEAST support a cause like this instead of beign a critic and finding loopholes. you r saying corruption cant b killed overnight, yes it cant be...atleast slowly we shud try to kill it right? any initiative towards that is good acc to me....
SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!
Fasting is not an easy thing...u mus kno better ;-)
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Thank you for post and your blog. My friend showed me your blog and I have been reading it ever since.
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