The naked truth

The turmoil that the masters in the art of corruption have presently brought about in the nation is appreciable, if only for its never before magnitude. That even members of the national cabinet can put on display a character that would better suit a mafia don is something that we are a sad witness to for the first time in the history of India as a free nation. That the two main national parties are almost equal rivals in the art of corruption is also a reality that has caught the imagination of the nation.

“Hamam mein sab nange hain” is what even newly born are heard uttering these days with almost amazing regularity.

I am reminded of the days when in the mid eighties we learnt through the media and political utterances that  India is great and then in the late nineties that the nation is shining. That the shine and the sheen always remained restricted to certain select members of the then ruling establishment was never in doubt. Yet the culpability of a senior member of the cabinet remained under covers till all hell broke loose when the issue of selling national silver at throwaway prices caught the attention of the masses. Disinvestment of certain prized yet undervalued public undertakings at prices one would laugh at had emerged as the primary focus of the establishment that had vested interests tucked away almost everywhere, almost akin to the present times.

Literally booted out I was, yet the priceless “Ashok” at Chanakyapuri lived and that one victory which made me almost a pariah for a few months till the issue was forgotten, has been my most cherished possession. I now fully appreciate after almost a decade of greying further that the fight that I then undertook was an offshoot of the anger every right minded citizen of the nation feels when the politicos or the bureaucrats usurp what belongs to all of us. Yes I was angry, extremely angry in the frustration that follows the inability of a protector to protect. That the establishment and the anti establishment had as always become silent partners in looting the nation is a trend that invariably continues to this day.

And we the common men rightly feel cheated when the guy we elected as the custodian turns out to be the crook. And the thought that India is only for men with power or men with money and not for the aam Hindustani gets ingrained deeper and deeper with time.

In hope we live. Insha Allah!