In God we trust!

Ramdev's shadow loomed large over the sixty sixth anniversary of the independence day of the nation. It was only yesterday that he swarmed by his supporters had almost held the city to ransom over the basic issue of corruption. Yet he blinked first and left, in what was a battle that had just started getting fought.

Yes it is true that for the first time the nation is in the throes of a war on corruption launched by two citizens who are honest and have taken the nation by storm, and fortunately would not be cowed down by the might of the state. And this time the state also played its part tactfully, staying away from confrontation, and in the process making the other party blink first.

For the first  time many of us did not feel the fervor that occasions like the independence and republic day have the capability to rouse. How can one take a pride in a nation that has been taking rapid strides, merely in the realm of corrupt practices? In an environment marked by an all pervasive and deeply entrenched corrupt practices, how can one be inspired by independence day speeches that are not from the heart and at best  classify as mere rhetoric? It is indeed sad that even the might of the nation that is on full display on such occasions now fails to have the desired patriotic impact and merely assumes the aura of a grand spectacle.

That is what we have brought even the most sacred of our national events to, a mere grand spectacle. Sad yet true.

Anna is a ray of hope. Having ignited minds and brought the issue of corruption center stage, the issue now needs to be taken further to its logical conclusion. The entire tantra needs to be cleansed of inefficiency and corruption and a system based on integrity and justice that the existing pillars of our democratic system have failed to achieve in the over six decades of the existence of a free nation, needs to be firmly established. Thankfully India is not China where a Tianaman type strike can crush public movements in a single swipe. Yet India is also not a nation where the masses can resolve and say - this far and no further, for they have also, perhaps out of compulsion become an integral part of the the system that thrives on corruption.

In the absence of a suitable alternative, even 2014 may not provide a solution. The deep morass that has engulfed the entire tantra now needs a leader who has the integrity, understanding, conviction and courage in an abundant measure to be able to take on the might of the system for the benefit of the nation. But the horizon does not offer hope. The days of oral pills and surgery being over, what the system now needs is a massive dose of chemotheraphy on a sustained basis and perhaps that is the only treatment that may work, yet we need a doctor to initiate treatment.

In eighty four million gods we trust and they may bless us with a solution.

Insha Allah.

Unrealistic expectations!

The issue of corruption is now center stage. The Hazare and Ramdev movements are based on the understanding that politicians are corrupt and therefore a strong mechanism is needed to checkmate them. This has led to the ongoing long drawn out and heated debates and discussions on the proposed lokpal bill.

Inadequate appreciation of the issue of corruption has caused the above scenario.

Corruption has two faces, financial and professional. Due to lack of understanding of the the professional kind, financial corruption alone is generally considered synonymous with corruption per-se in the nation. The genesis of financial corruption lies in the rapidly depleting standards of national character, and its root cause lies in the complexity of the sarkari system that we have adapted to ru(i)n the nation. Too many thumb impressions for even petty decisions have diluted the concept of responsibility while at the same time giving adequate cover and shield to the corrupt. Enabling corruption has therefore emerged as the strong point of our existing system.

Professional corruption on the other hand is as damaging as its financial counterpart, maybe even more, primarily because of its extremely high ripple effect and its being freely practiced by almost the entire bureaucracy. The higher the pedestal occupied by the bloke, the higher is the damage he causes through his blatant acts of professional corruption, the most common of which is the art of "not taking decisions". And therefore the file, the sarkari tool for taking and communicating decisions keeps on shuttling up and down, right and left, backward and forward and in the process keeps on bloating like a pig.

Identifying the politician as the major culprit in the popular game of corruption is perhaps the biggest mistake almost all of us make. While the politicians are no doubt generally corrupt, the bureaucracy invariably takes the cake in this field with the lower rung generally specializing in financial and the upper crust in professional corruption. Service, only of the self, family and friends has emerged as the motto of the bureaucracy, cutting across sectors and states. Besides why deliver, when no one asks for it. Keep on coasting along, purposelessly and handle files as one would a ping pong ball or a shuttle cock and in the process keep on rising to the top, like muck in stagnant water.

Movements such as those witnessed in recent times are no doubt piloted by men with good intentions, but unfortunately these good men have very little idea of the manner in which the wheels of governance move in this nation. And therefore it is imperative that before another watchdog institution is created, the contribution made by the CVC and the Lokayukta needs objective assessment. The creation of a Lokpal, without cleansing the tantra would tantamount to creating one more checkpoint, one more roadblock that would further slowdown the snail paced system of governance that we have in our nation.