INDIA HAS SEVERAL NETAS BUT NO NATION-BUILDER

(This article was published in the Pioneer of 31/1/2014)

The emergence of a true leader who has the courage and the gumption to take on the system, and not merely tinker with it for marginal improvements, is the need of the hour. Unfortunately, this country is yet to be blessed with such a leader

It was an inspiring address, delivered by the first Prime Minister of independent India in the first hour of day one, that raised the hopes of an entire nation. The lines that really stood out in that tryst with destiny speech were: “The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?”

India has since then been a land of missed opportunities. Many wonder if we can afford to miss it this time again. Opportunity is not for a select few to occupy high chairs but for genuine nation-building. The realisation that nation- building requires the toil of generations and definitely does not come cheap, has not sunk into the Indian psyche. That there is no quick-fix, and a mere display of intentions and rhetoric is not going to take us anywhere needs to be understood. It is paramount that India’s Gross Domestic Product grows in sync with the developed world.

For the past 67 years, with the exception of the initial few, what the nation has witnessed is a clamour for power, purely for personal gains. Modern day political dynasties, that the nation has not been able to discard, have evolved out of this clamour for power. While some have maintained an association with power since that ‘tryst with destiny’, many other political families (though not as powerful) have also emerged and produced successful second and third generation politicians, occupying benches in the hallowed portals of Parliament and State legislatures across the country. We are taken in by names, and name-throwing has, therefore, emerged as the biggest past-time of the ruling and ruled classes.

What is nation-building all about? A great example is the rise of Germany after its defeats in the first and the second world wars. Its rise after the first war was fuelled by national pride and the leadership of one single individual; after the second, it was the collective effort of its citizens to restore the nation to  its earlier position of glory that made all the difference.

In India’s context, the issues are a bit different. At the time of independence, we were like a child who had been let free. A nation of uneducated people, torrid infrastructure, rampant poverty that was divided on caste and regional lines, was handed the baton with the mandate to govern itself. The ruling classes saw themselves in the same mould as the departing occupiers. Therefore, though the machinery for governance warranted a total overhaul, it was merely tinkered with for minimal effect. The euphoria of independence soon evaporated. Therefore, while minor improvements in infrastructure and major changes in the availability of consumer goods may be visible today, the nation has been slipping down the human development and transparency indices.

India is yet to be blessed with a leader who openly shares his resolve to take the nation forward. Someone who openly declares his abhorrence for corruption and resolves to hit graft at it its roots shall be the one who can build the nation of our dreams. A person who has a vision, sets targets and takes the nation forward by delivering, not merely pontificating on providing governance, education and infrastructure.

The emergence of a true leader who has the courage and the gumption to take on the system, and not merely tinker with it for marginal improvements, is the need of the hour.  Only such leaders are remembered as nation builders. All others merely had a great time.

U turns for India!

History is indeed being created at a rapid pace in the country of today. In a period barely exceeding over a year, the nation has been witness to a cataclysm of events with potential to lead to major changes in the nation.

There have been four turning points in recent times.

The first was the call of Anna Hazare that brought out people in large numbers on the streets of Delhi, to vent their anger against the blatant and brazen connivance of those who rule with those who loot and the fading away of the difference between the two. The call of Anna for setting up a Lokpal to deal with the looming cloud of corruption touched the finer chords in the hearts of the people. The insensitivity of the rulers towards their duties and the people who gave them the power was the final straw, but this was just the beginning of a tidal wave, yet none realized it then.

The next was the outpouring of anger, emotions and people on the streets of Delhi in solidarity with Nirbhaya, the young girl who was brutally defiled in the capital city of the nation. It was also perhaps the first time in the history of independent India that the middle class walked out of the confines of their homes to face water cannons in cold winter evenings just to register their anger with the incident that merely affected an individual but with which all identified, as well as a government that had no intent of providing sane and safe governance. Each one of us felt as if raped and abandoned.

The elections to the state assemblies came next and we found the picture of Kejriwal staring at the masses from almost everywhere. His three wheeler campaigns caught the imagination of the people and his personal image stood out among the specter of corrupt politicians, yet none visualized the tsunami that struck the moment counting began. While even die-hard followers of the rebel refused to give him more than a single digit representation in the assembly and any mention of him as the chief minister was considered laughable, yet he emerged from the shadows to occupy Sheela’s chair.  And in the few weeks post occupation his following is visibly on the rise with many portraying him as the main challenger for the national throne. The nation after a long time experienced the intent to provide good governance and it shows.

Perhaps we have the habit of missing pointers, pointers towards the looming change that the nation apparently has been in the throes of yet the established dispensations and surprisingly even the fourth estate miserably failed in judging the tide. These pointers were invariably disposed of with a shrug, as minor irritants in a nation expected to always fall in line with the known devil.

The change is upon us and if we don’t’ realize it even now there is no way we shall not be swept off our feet when the major tide hits the nation. The setting up of helplines against corruption is indeed a first of its kind and definitely something major in a nation plagued regularly by scams of ever growing magnitude. That it is the first of many major changes that shall follow and change the way governance is conducted in the country is a foregone conclusion. Perhaps more than the direct consequences of this step, merely bringing corruption center stage in a nation that so far steadfastly refused to do so is a very major milestone. That the intent of the rulers can also be to inject value systems in the governance machinery so far identified with sloth and self-aggrandizement was never earlier contemplated and with this one stroke, the meaning of governance as understood so far in this country is bound to change.

Gone shall be the days of the extended Raj is what the common man now hopes. He who had given us on hope is now hopeful and that is a very good sign indeed.

I hope India would definitely not miss this U turn towards development and growth!

Please do not let us down Mr Kejriwal!

That the rapidly changing political scenario would ultimately lead to rapid changes in governance is a hope that the aam aadmi of this country is carrying in his heart nowadays. The ascent of Kejriwal marks the beginning of the descent of corrupt politicians.

Sceptics should step aside and allow the man to perform by taking a path that he chooses – after all he has earned the mandate and also the goodwill of the people of Delhi.

Whatever one may say about the Times Now debates, Arnab has a commanding personality. For the aggression and the confidence that he displays he has to be a man of immense conviction and integrity. There are many who dislike him, but in this country of mediocre people, it is rare that a man like him will be lauded universally. Yet I like him and his trampling of puny people with unethical mind-sets, consistently and sanely.

The intransigence and petty mindedness of even well-known political leaders comes out sharply during Arnab’s debates. I fail to understand why even astute politicians are unable to understand that plain acceptance of good as good and bad as bad is what really appeals to the conscience of the ordinary man. Why Pinky Anand of the BJP continued to bat for Yeddy and Sanjay of the Congress for Virbhadra Singh, despite well-known connivance of these two in dubious deals baffled me yesterday.  And that too in the face of an environment suitably tempered by the Kejriwal effect. For once cant’ our political leaders accept that building a government based on integrity and value systems is much more important than building a government at any cost. The means are also as important.

Kejriwal spoke at length yesterday on the floor of the house. He spoke from the heart and that is all that matters. During the Times Now debate yesterday, the man from Samajwadi Party mockingly gave Kejriwal the advantage of a clean slate. He was not prepared to give Kejriwal the credit that is due to him if only for bringing the issue of corruption and mal-governance centre-stage, and I wondered why.

Even the good qualities of a rival need appreciation and acceptance and our so called leaders need to assimilate this basic premise. It is apparent that we have indeed travelled a long way from the times of Nehru and Patel when the battles were issue based and the welfare of the nation the core focus of those manning the treasury as well as the opposition benches.

Perhaps Kejriwal would show the light to the politicos, but who would be the torchbearer for the real culprits – from the bureaucracy. It is they who fail in their duty to function as the conscience keepers of the government and connive with all and sundry purely for personal gains. It is they who derail even the well-meaning politician with a clear intent. It is they who instead of showing the path to glory focus on the path to doom. Perhaps clean politicians with bureaucratic backgrounds on the lines of Kejriwal have a better chance of being able to clean the stables. 

Please do not let us down Mr Kejriwal. There is too much at stake!

From despair to hope!

Pain and anger over the Nirbhaya incident marked the national mood in the December of 2012. Such was the pain that a nation normally used to celebrations abandoned the new year bash and such was the anger that the entire populace clamored for nothing short of death penalty for all the rapists including the juvenile. It was perhaps the first time in the history of independent India that the entire nation rose in unison against gross injustice and torture perpetuated on one individual. It was also perhaps for the first time that the middle and upper classes spilled out of the confines of their homes onto the streets, to show solidarity with a cause and anger with the incident as well as the state of the nation. Perhaps everyone felt as if  mother india herself had been defiled.

The December of 2013 in sharp contrast has been marked by a mood of despair yet anxious expectation. Despair and frustration over the abysmal standards of governance witnessed in recent times and anxious expectation over the results of the mini general elections that are indeed a pointer towards larger changes to occur in the way governance is conducted in this country. That the quality of governance and call for probity in public life and not merely anti incumbency mattered in this mini mahabharat was its main redeeming feature. For once the people of this nation voted for good governance in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, and for AAP in Delhi out of sheer frustration with national parties. 

I only wish that the anger, frustration and despair does not spill over to 2014 and that this year marks the beginning of good governance in this nation thirsting in vain since its tryst with destiny.

Perhaps the time for a real tryst with destiny has now arrived. Maybe we the people of India, the resilient people of India may now opt for spine in favor of resilience and for the call of conscience in favor of greed. The silent acceptance of mal-governance, corruption, high handedness and inequality may soon be a thing of the past if and only if the change that has happened especially in the capital of the nation proves to be a real change and not a hashed continuance of the status quo.

We as a nation have a problem in almost every sphere of our activities. Be it poverty, lack of housing, water, electricity or basic infrastructure, there are shortages galore, shortages that do not have a plausible reason to exist after sixty six years of self rule. Why Delhi should be internationally known more as the rape capital of India than for any other reason is what makes us hang our heads in shame. Why we are way below in the transparency index and a front runner in corruption is beyond rationale. 

Screwed or perhaps warped governance is at the root of almost every issue, yet our leaders, good and bad blabber only about further tweaking the system for marginal improvements that remain merely sinusoidal. While any bureaucracy thrives on the backwardness of the nation, the inability of the public representatives to understand why we have not reached where we should is inexplicable. That a machinery built to rule is unfit to govern is a realization that has not sunk in despite failures galore on every front. 

The day we have a leader who understands this very basic premise and then makes structural changes in the processes as well as the machinery that makes policies, takes decisions and enter into contracts, the country would be able to make up for the lost years.

Victorious Democracy - Hope Lives

Who would have ever thought that Kejriwal, the national icon of defiance and honesty would be taking oath as the Chief Minister of Delhi after participating in a battle, the results of which defied all odds. His victory brings to fore the greatest strength of the indian democratic system, a system where governments regularly pass the baton of change without rancour and where even an ordinary citizen can aspire to reach the top through ballot, not bullet.  

The recent elections have once again displayed that the nation has sufficiently matured to endure the pangs of democracy. Despite the ills plaguing the nation, rampant corruption being the most visible amongst them, democracy has taken deep roots in this country unlike many other nations of similar elk. Thankfully hope is not yet dead!

The singular trait of the developed world that India a member of the forever developing group shares is that governments smoothly change by ballot without the hullabaloo normally witnessed in many developing countries. To a great extent this can be credited to the strength of the national institutions that were set up in the post-independence era. The credibility of the machinery conducting general and state elections, the election commission in conducting the biggest electoral battle in the world is now unquestionably established. Also established is the environment of mutual trust that almost all political parties generally have with the commission that functions as it really should - in an unbiased and nonpartisan manner.

Despite low literacy levels, the electorate that often displays a high level of understanding of fundamental issues cannot be taken for granted anymore. It now has the proven capability to show that even established political pundits can be way off the mark while making profound assessments. Till the results started pouring in, no one was willing to give the Aam Aadmi Party more than a single digit figure, yet the electorate gave them the mandate, almost and placed Arvind Kejriwal in the top seat in the hope of being blessed with good governance. 

Arvind Kejriwal is not merely a person who has ascended to the throne of a state in the shortest ever time frame in history, he is indeed a phenomenon and an assertion by the common people of the capital that they are sick and tired of acts of gross abuse of power by powerful men and now want a change, a change for the better. Contrary to popular expectations, the common man pinned his entire hopes on the Aam Aadmi Party and it would therefore be a sad travesty of justice if these hopes are belied. This change is therefore also a realization that the common man in his heart of hearts really aspires for goodness and dreams of Ram Rajya. 

The recent election in Delhi will also go down in history as the culmination of a series of events that catapulted an ordinary citizen, to the highest seat of power in the state. While the rise has indeed been meteoric, the fall will also be as drastic if the new dispensation fails to provide what they promised - good governance. The proof of the pudding is always in the eating. 

For the sake of the national yearning for a society based on value systems and for keeping alive "trust and hope" in the common man, his dreams have to convert into reality. If they really do, it would indeed mark a major turning point for this nation. The great national experiment has just begun.

It is all about being human!

Birthdays are an ideal occasion to introspect and then if possible, attempt to emerge as a guy better than one has been. My fifty fifth today brings back to me a kaleidoscope of my earlier years, my follies and my weaknesses rather taking center stage.

Fifty five is fairly old despite how young one feels at heart. It is almost seventy over with only about thirty remaining, yet the very thought that one can make a much bigger mark in the remainder is what gives hope and strength. May god give me the strength to get over all my mistakes and shortcomings and help me in emerging a better human being that one has been in the past. 

My morning walk today again gave me an opportunity to blabber out my thoughts. Perhaps the youngster who accompanied me gave his ear out of sheer respect for seniority, yet the blabbering had some sanity and its essence may remain at the core of all my actions for the rest of my life. Perhaps much more important than being wealthy or powerful is being a genuine human being, an act so simple yet so hard to emulate. Emulating simplicity or genuineness is not only difficult but almost impossible, because these traits cannot be emulated, one can only be. Yet the effort has to go on, not only for my own sake, but also for all those who are the intrinsic constituent of my own tiny universe. 

If only the clock could be turned back a few decades, I would radically cut down on my nasty behavior, catch up on a lot of reading and writing that I have missed and not waste time on issues that now appear as mere trivialities. It is indeed true, yet a fairly late realization, perhaps for many like me that life should not be allowed to while away on trivialities, there are much bigger and better things to do like simply being human.

Yes it is true that in the bureaucratic circus I belong to, being human remains farthest from our thoughts and actions and that is the root cause of all our failures, our failures that are not merely ours but strongly impinge upon the organization we work for and the nation. Our sole focus on self gratification and absolute lack of concern for others has hurt the nation in the last sixty seven years and would continue to do so in future unless we recast the governance model of this great nation.

My last five years in the service of the nation begin today with the prayer to the almighty that this period should not be allowed to go in vain. I strongly believe that the contribution to the society at large that one is able to make towards the fag end of the career is what will give me the satisfaction to carry on unabated even after I hang up my official boots on the last day of 2018.

This purpose of this blog is only to strengthen my own thoughts and resolve!

Combating Corruption - The Lok Pal way

Amidst high drama the Lok Pal finally becomes a reality with the parliament giving its nod. With this the national aspiration for a corruption free nation has again started rearing its head. 

The achievement is definitely creditable with Anna, the parliament and the government to a limited extent sharing the honors. The intent is pious and the motives honorable, yet having delved in the complex maze of the tantra for a considerable period of time makes me wonder whether this historic move would indeed deliver what its founding fathers envisaged.

The plethora of agencies ostensibly created to combat corruption, namely lokayukta's in the states, CVC, CBI and CVO's in ministries and public sector have obviously bitten the dust. Else what was the tearing hurry or even the necessity to create one more agency without going into the apparent causes behind such large scale failures? How many check posts do we really need?

Mere intent is not enough. A thorough appreciation of the system that the nation follows is equally if not more essential and that is where the mandarins of the nation who dream of a corruption free society have been failing miserably. Perhaps the intent is also missing as apparently omnipresent is the drive to display a semblance of seeking a corruption free society. Sick and tired of such self seekers is the common man who gets taken for a ride both by the dispensation in power and those aspiring to take their place, almost always. 

In over thirty three years of working with the tantra, I am yet to come across a superior who brought the issue of corruption on the table or attended a meeting in which the ills of the organization especially those relating to corruption and value systems were discussed candidly. I am also yet to attend an independence day celebration at the red fort where the prime minister makes an open call to eradicate corruption and warns those indulging in the same of swift and severe consequences. I am absolutely certain that corruption would take a nose dive the day we get such a prime minister and we bring this issue on the table.

Perhaps everyone feels helpless and the apex levels who are well taken care of have no stake in bringing about the improvements that they also once desired. Sad it is that in the drive to reach the top, the bureaucracy as well as the politicos have given the go by to everything else. 

Corruption is a symptom not a disease and any symptomatic treatment therefore is bound to fall flat on its face as we have continually witnessed. India has emerged as a rare nation where every single interaction of the common man with the sarkari tantra is invariably laced with corruption. Is this indicative of a society gone to seed or a tantra that encourages corruption to flourish? If the society has indeed gone to seed then precious little can be done and that makes me lean towards the latter with optimism, the tantra is to blame not our moral fabric. 

The complexity of the tantra is at the root of both corruption as well as non deliverance. The existing tantra was designed to enable a ruler to rule over his subjects and lack of trust was therefore at its core. A plethora of thumb impressions therefore ensured both a casual as well as a corrupt approach. It is indeed sad that the complexity continues to be aggravated despite self rule for over six decades in the hope that somehow it would help to combat corruption. Unless the manadarins start appreciating the need to simplify and recast the decision making and contractual mechanisms, there is no hope whatsoever of a corruption free Bharat.