Should we now depend only on Judiciary?

A judge named Jyotsna Yagnik, in Ahmedabad, may not go into record books of Guinness or Limca for she has not done anything record breaking officially. But for me what she has done is to repose public faith in judicial system her single biggest achievement.

Unfortunately this also means the executive and legislature have failed to deliver. Every matter is now referred to courts. I wonder why we have all other institutions at the first place.

I stopped reporting these events years back. But I still go through the reporter’s agony in such scenarios. The very person who was elected to represent and protect the area is convicted of doing exactly the opposite. The very people who thought they will be protected by the executive for following blind orders of anarchy were left in lurch while their masters tasted power. 

It was a heartrending scene at the court premises to see families of convicted crying helplessly. If only they had given an afterthought of what they were doing ten years back, they could not have seen this day.

If I was in Modi’s place, I would have come in public support to these convicts because these are the people who put me into power and I just cant wash my hands away. Even if I had to sacrifice power and my personal pride, I would have stood my ground. That is what makes a real man. If these people had not risked their life for nothing tangible in return, it was their ideology and faith in me. I cant turn away from my supporters.

But who cares. Take for example the social sphere rhetoric of praising NM for the work he is supposed to do and for which we all elected him (we represents people of his constituency). Counter question is then why are his counter parts in other states not performing the same way?

This is where a big fat misunderstanding is. All heads of state wants progress in their state (along with their own personal progress) but then we don’t have the great people of Gujarat elsewhere. In a state like Kerala or West Bengal projects are held up because people just do not cooperate. So who are the real heros in state’s development? The state leader or the people of this state?

But at the same time, we fail to see the flip side of this big industrial development or casually ignore it. Either way, ignore at your own peril because it will come to haunt us today or tomorrow. Largesse and heavy subsidies to private sector comes at our cost. Tata Nano is manufactured at a place and on power that the people of Gujarat have paid but the profits go to Tatas. The big expansion of Gujarat as an auto hub is nothing but paid by the people of Gujarat. Normally in such cases, the income gap between rich and poor increases leading to social unrest.

Then the second logical question is to see the Roads in Gujarat. Very few know that these highways projects are made with negative grants where a private conglomerate pays money to government to build these roads. In most cases government obliges with land acquisition at lower prices and subsidized rates and when the highways are built on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer, one thing that does not happen is transfer. There is no transparency on how long can a company own that road. It becomes a private property on which we pay toll eternally. Who would not like to get such contracts? Since other states dread to take such decisions, their roads are primitive as government coffers are empty to even repair leave alone build new roads. Private contractors benefit, big conglomerates benefits more and the biggest beneficiaries are political parties or political figures. And a big group of supporters pat Modi on his back for this big loot.

So the next logical question comes whether I am a Congress supporter. Sadly I have to say a big no because they are the real architects of this rotten system. They are the living Aristocrats of India whom many think are born to lead the country. Even if Rahul Gandhi is a misfit, he is prodded to be the PM by a certain section of people.

One more question I may face is whether I support people who wave Pakistan flags or vandalise places of importance. The answer is that I owe my loyalty to this country and not any individual like many of my friends who put personal interests and personal idols more than country’s interests. We will continue to have people who do vandalism. It is a law and order problem. Regarding their loyalty, I would say if they have not yet realized the plight of Muslims in their own land, then they only will repent.

Hinduism is a word coined by Arabs who dealt with India early on. I don’t expect people to agree on this. Then everyone beyond Hindu-Kush Mountains was called Hindus. This is our real heritage and this is the reason we call ourselves as Secular and not because we have different religions here. The caste system, superstitions, religious hatred, child marriage, Sati, astrology, black magic, patriarchal system were all our invention for which we should not be proud of.

So everyone who chose to be here are Indians. The problem that we have in India is too much freedom. A type of freedom that a person can go and vandalise a monument of national importance. Another person can ask this guy to leave the country on the basis of their caste, religion or colour. If there was a regulation on this and if there was a fear that such acts will not be tolerated, this will not happen. A classic example is Dubai. 

Most importantly one should understand that criticizing is not treason. It can only build and strengthen the weakness that we have within ourselves. 

So when the entire world knows for what and who orchestrated 1984 Sikh Riots or 2001 Gujarat riots, why not own up and take the moral responsibility?

These are my personal thoughts put as it flowed. Not intended for reproduction.

Raise your hands those who love your country

What is patriotism and love for your country? To be very frank, I have no answers. To a select few sharing a picture of National Flag and threatening to either share it to 50000 people or face the consequence of being called a traitor is patriotism. To others, singing Vande Mataram is patriotism. What exactly is it? How do you express your love for the country without doing all these flimsy exhibitive actions? 

But what is not patriotism can easily be defined. Provocation is certainly not a sign of love for the country. And we have enough of those which is done under the guise of patriotism. How can Pakistan become the native land of Indian Muslims? How can Israel become native land of Indian Christians and same mantra goes for other religions too. The Indianness comes in being a thoughtful  person far away from divisive ideologies, flimsy and decorative thinking and being a caring human. This is patriotism for me. 

But I dont see this too often. In the recent Mumbai protests, what was the reason to turn violent and destroy public property in a silent march? It is the prerogative of MNS to do that and they have full copyright for any such acts. The biggest insult came in the form of young boys desecrating Amar Jyoti Memorial dedicated to people who sacrificed for our country.  To add insult to injury, there was a Pakistan flag among the protestors. 
It is disgusting to see such acts. Muslims in India are at the receiving end merely for the reason that they are following the methods adopted by people in countries under the occupation of western forces like Afghanistan, Iraq etc. Unable to fathom the atrocities by US and its allies, terrorism was rooted. Let them fight. 

What kind of patriotism are the Indian Muslims subscribing to? I am a firm believer in universal truth that humans have to co-exist, co-educate, co-operate and co-die. To say that miscreants have infiltrated into the Mumbai crowd and vandalised something of national importance is something naive. To say that no one has seen waiving a Pakistan flag in nothing short of a joke. 

No wonder, I see a lot of posting on social networking site and TV discussions asking a certain section of society to prove they are patriots. Unless otherwise proved, they are traitors. I was awestruck when I saw a Malabari Muslim in Kerala wearing a short pyjama and a long kurta replacing the dhoti and shirt they used to wear – replicating the North Indian style of attire. Why should you do this? Why cant a Kerala Muslim live like a Malayali? Why should he follow some one who is fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan or Kashmir? Just to show solidarity?

No. I think the problem is deep rooted here. The culture of a local area or region is the hallmark of a person living in that particular area. Indians have never learnt this. Wherever the Indians are they try to make a short district of their own culture in that area alienating local culture. This happens with every community. Building a place of worship may not be a problem but then putting your morality and bias on that area becomes a problem. Jains do this wherever they live as they try to clean up the area of vendors selling products they dont eat while Sardarjis try to do this by bringing back the same vendors because they are more into eating than anything else. Muslims try to do this in some regions while Christians are also not far behind. 

Part of this goes to the Social Media and the technological environment we live in. Ideas gets generated and circulated and implemented by mobocracy even in democracies. Now take a look at the passion on which the Mumbai story happened.

Read this blog first

In this blog, Faraz Ahmed who describe himself as a tech blogger, Web Designer and Electronics engineer who loves to share his ideas did a research to find out fake pictures are circulated in Social Media to whip up the passion. This is the same method used by Modi Followers to whip up passion for him. The other group just followed.

But again, how can someone not use their brains and do not trust their conscience and instead falls prey to false propaganda in the name of religion. There is something wrong somewhere in our education, our upbringing and our culture that we do not listen to our own minds. 

The moment you listen to your own mind and use your own brain, you will realise the problems around us – in our society, in our community, in our state, in our country. Just have a look at them and think and you will automatically turn a patriot. The real patriot.

When faith and trust of India's youth is a memory for me

I have completely lost faith in this country, its youth and its future. Yes I am referring to the next superpower called India. The way we are moving now – in tandem with all the primitive methods – I am unable to fathom the modernisation and educational levels.

Not that I am better off nor do I represent India's youth the way Chetan Bhagat does that I am expressing my opinion. Not that the India envisaged by Modi and his Free Public Relation fans in social networks that I subscribe nor oppose to. Not the mute and deaf undeterred and stagnant India Congress and BJP envisages that I can ever think of nor do I want to even in my wildest dreams. 

But a country that is run by scoundrels but inhabited by intellectuals. Yes, this is  deliberate and pun is intended. I will explain how. Politics is not a common man's job. If I want to clean up a place, get rid of problems around say half a kilometer radius, it is impossible for me. So how on earth am I going to get into any type of politics. So it will always be run by people who are more capable and smart than me. Let them do it. In the middle of last decade, I thought of a resurgent India where the youths of this country will put apart the riddles of Hinduism, revoke regional chauvinism, create social awareness and march ahead with what Amitabh Bachan shouts on the promos of KBC – Sirf Gyan hi aapko aapka haq dilata hai.

Well, I think he is preaching it at a wrong time. Today these same issues which I thought will be a thing of the past are its peak. People with biggest gyan are flirting with impractical thoughts and even impregnating it within themselves championing activism that can only end with a big Aryabhatta discovery. 

So much have been written about Anna and Ramdev that if I write anything again, Google will stop SEO of these two words for ever. But allow me to put two sentences. These two people are asking for moon is an understatement. I dont understand why the educated youth of this country cant realise that corruption is a human problem deep rooted in culture and not a government issue. Why they subscribe to Anna View that it can be switched off like a television remote is what has put me to deep shame. Second is black money. I scratch my head on this demand without a possible method. There are somethings black money cant buy. For everything else there is Baba and Anna. 

It is more of a joke on this country that precious time and policing energy is wasted on utopia. If I live up to my grand children, I will make sure I tell certainly use this as a sleeping pill for them the way toddlers are made to listen to Ba Ba Black Sheep. Thank you for your patience to read the often repeated things about Anna and Baba. Let's come to the real point now.

I thought, I am odd among the big thinking society but when I shared this with some like minded people, I realised, they have exactly the same way of thinking. I may be wrong because the data that I relied on mostly comprised of Social networking updates where the so called big intellectual minds stay. The villages and people with real intellect may have got missed from my radar for which I am expressing my regret. There could be some hope left in these places, I really dont know.

How far we can go in maintaining a Colony?

Last night, a meeting was called by LH (the place where I stay and proud of it) Members to discuss the roadmap ahead. It resulted in chaos and ultimately no one knows what we should do next. This has happened because a two year contract by the builder to maintain the property ended and they have posted their interest to continue if everything is in the same order as before.
Many of us are too much inclined towards the past and not seeing the future. Most of the members are interested in the nitty gritties of previous years and unable to fathom the grave situation ahead of us if we need to keep the place well maintained.
The only question we should ask from the previous accounts is the amount of Transfer Fee which is shown as a meager amount. The rest was part of the purchase cost and we need not dwell into it.
Ideally Pacifica should have formed a Managing Committee of the so called Service Society consisting of members of LH and ask their consent as to who should manage the facility. Now there is a peculiar situation. We pay a monthly sum but we still cant have a say in it. We employ people to look after the facility but we cant control them. We pay from our nose but we cant see its proper utilization. This is completely against the logical wisdom.
I still would like Pacifica to manage the facility but as a contractor not as a boss of the members. Ideally all the money collected should go into this Co-operative society and all service contractors should be paid by cheque signed by the chosen members of LH and not Pacifica.
But this is not what we are discussing. We are more concerned with taking grudge against people. One person who has two cars but one parking and was told to park the second car outside was heard saying we should get Pacifica out. Just because it serves his purpose. A few others were screaming as if some major accident has taken place. And most of the members, without realizing this personal grudges, are succumbing to unwarranted mercies.
We still have people who do not adhere to the basic code of conduct but talk as if they are the biggest disciplinarians. Now a days all sundry are entering the gate and all guests are welcomed inside by the members to bring their car and park anywhere they like. Members themselves who doesnít have additional car parking are enjoying parking anywhere at the cost of those who paid for it. 
As members it should be our responsibility to take care of the place where we live, and not the builder. If Pacifica is interested to keep the upkeep, we are pretty happy about it but the methodology should be logical. Now who will listen this?
I think we have a notion about our professional abilities. All humans have this and even I am no exception. Last nights tu tu main main was a classic example of this. 
But even if we are at the echelons of where our professional capabilities are, we may not be able to do something that doesn't come into our forte. We have CAs, Doctors, Journos and other professional people and this, perhaps, seems to be the nagging problem in coming to a consensus.
I don't have an iota of idea where this will go. But my only suggestion to the newly formed Block Committee is to see this problem in a pyramid manner. The biggest issue should be solved first followed by smaller ones.
In the midst of this, we should also thank Pacifica to have done a good job in the upkeep of the place. The entire debate is how to keep this intact, which is a compliment to the builder. Today we have a few groups - one which supports the builder, one which doesn't have a voice at all and a group which just don't want Pacifica to be in any matters. To make matters worse, a counter circular not to attend last night's meeting was also circulated - which goes against the basic ethics of democracy. Whoever has done that should have come and aired their voice openly.
All these groups works separately. It is sad that such a small number of people (perhaps 100 or less considering a majority are tenants) can't agree on simple things. Let's not make this as an individual issue. Everyone have a right to object but then majority prevails.

Development lies in the eyes of the beholder – not developer

Development is a word that has been used extensively by many political leaders to their own advantage. I stay in a state where we are served development for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact it is savored as fried snack too along with cutting Chai.


Development is a word that I compare to Beauty. It lies in the eyes of the beholder and never the developer. When I move around the state in my car, I take pride in having great roads. But then I go beneath and see tragic stories of development and people who have been displaced due to development of big projects. So in short every development comes at a cost. Now who am I to value this cost as long as I am a beneficiary of this development.


In UP, development has a different meaning. People of this largest Indian state are watching helplessly as the democratically elected Chief Minister is erecting her statues all over. This is more of inferiority complex issue than anything else. Mayawati is asserting herself as someone more powerful and valuable to the state than any other leader. In a state that is horribly divided by caste and religion, this assertion helps her to be a messiah among a set of people who have never tasted development. She wants her Dalit identity to be transformed into a powerful tool that can beat any caste or creed. If it has cost millions to make these statues, there is another blunder that is going on. Election Commission has ordered these statues to be covered. This will cost millions more.


Along the Ahmedabad roads in Gujarat, I walk in the middle of vehicles. Even the most posh areas with western style of development do not have walking paths. So what development are we talking about? And as I go further I see helpless citizens relieving themselves wherever they find space. I tried once to scold a man who took shelter behind a tree to relieve himself. He stopped his activity for a while and asked me if I can find a loo anywhere so that he can pause his current activity and resume if I help him in finding one.


The real disgraces of this development are its side effects. We define development in terms of big road, bigger buildings, bigger malls and not the quality life we should be living. Today how many children walk to school? Development has taken place so suddenly that a section of people have not been able to match with its pace. They felt they have been left out of this development. Their brains worked overtime to find out the reason why this was happening. They got quick answers when CAG mentioned an astronomical figure as the kickback A Raja has taken for telecom spectrum. Their blood boiled as they thought their share of development and progress was snatched from them on a single stroke. As the frustrations grew, entry of anti graft crusaders and civil activists helped it fuel the fire. It gave much needed tonic and everyone joined the bandwagon without realizing what they were protesting for.


The one disgraceful word ‘corruption’ became the rallying point. I watched in shock and dismay as people gathered in thousands to protest against an unknown enemy waging a war against unknown people in unspecified locations. They uniformly gave the name ‘corruption’ to every evil that we are facing today.


People who invented this terminology also brought out solutions and they called it Lokpal. The government, faced with mounting criticism and a silent PM, quickly brought its own version of this. Today, the entire campaign has got fizzled out because the people who were behind this campaign had more to hide than to reveal. 


The campaign could not sustain its steam not merely because of the people involved but because the main protagonist – corruption – was nowhere to be seen. After much deliberation, people realized a protest or two cannot remove this evil. They saw their own neighbours and friends – those who feed the corrupt with corruption capsules – were in the forefront of all these protests. 


So what has corruption to do with development – the topic which we began this discussion? In fact it has. I will illustrate the correlation. A posh bunglow owner asked one of my lawyer friends to file a stay over a proposed demolition of his parking space- which he admits has been encroached upon. He is of the opinion that since he has used it for the last 15 years without any problem, why this sudden move by the civic body to widen the road and cut the portion where he keeps three of his five cars (the rest two are on roads outside). I was a witness to this conversation between the lawyer and the client. As I always pokes into unnecessary things, I intervened and asked for his pardon if anything that I speak hurts him.


I told him the story of hundreds of thousands of tribal who stayed hundreds of thousands of years at a place where they never bothered to have a document or a panchayat receipt. They believed the land was owned by them and all of a sudden a group of people with well dressed attire on beacon led vehicles comes to their land and asks them to vacate. They refuse but in return are shown court orders which they never understand. They are forcibly vacated and a dam is built in that place. No one knows the whereabouts of those people. The labourers you see around at construction sites could be their second or third generation. People who owned large tracts of land are homeless with no fault of theirs. The fruits of their pain are directly poured into your kitchen tap and named as Narmada Water. You praise political leaders forgetting the sacrifice these people gave. He had no remorse and instead asked me if I was a Maoist or friend of Arundhati Roy and Medha Patkar – Gujarat’s sworn enemies.


The lawyer got a stay for him but it lasted a few months. Today all his five cars are parked on the road. Coming back to the main topic of development, I ask myself whether it is my fault not to see the fruits of development to my benefit and instead ponders over things that are not relevant. Or have I chosen a path where I confront everyone and take a stand to what I believe is reasonably correct. Development for me is human development and not a Gurgaon style of development. A nation can mature only with human development. The rest are just byproducts.


From Random Notes – Binu Alex

Can you enforce Dress Code for believers?

This morning as I attended the Church, I was amazed to listen to an order by the Diocese Archbishop. Among others, it mentioned a dress code for worshipers. While it was not clear what to wear, jeans and T-Shirts were clearly in the negative list.


Ashley E. McGuire, the editor-in-chief for altcatholicah.org says the way many people dress to mass in the US is completely offensive. “Strapless tops, cleavage, skirts that hardly cover the derriere, shorts, tracksuits, cut-offs. Tank tops.  Midriffs. Minis. How this became acceptable is a mystery. How to change it, is not.”


But this is not the case with the Church in Ahmedabad, especially Orthodox Church truly orthodox in many ways than one. Here people come with everything covered. I for one, regularly use T Shirt and Jeans. Not because it is one of my favourite nor do I look like a star in this attire but more because it is more comfortable than the formal ones that I wear for all the other six days.


Indians are not very akin to a dress code that the Vatican has. It prohibits anyone from entering a holy place wearing Shorts/skirts above the knee, • Sleeveless shirts, • Shirts exposing the navel, • Shirts for women that expose cleavage. But these are conveniently forgotten by all Catholics, especially in the Konkan region. They face a major issue of Religion Vs Culture.


In defense of the dress code, Ashley writes “let’s not forget, Jesus also flipped tables in a rage when he saw his Father’s house disrespected. He also reminded us in a parable that the man who showed up to a royal wedding not wearing the proper attire met a dreadful fate. Jesus was clear throughout the gospels: What you wear matters. He went to his own death in a garment so fine that men gambled for it.”


But when did this practice of advocating dress code in Orthodox began? I presume I have not heard any order since I seriously started attending Church. I would consider this as the biggest insult to my identity if anyone in this world directs me what to wear in my place of worship. 


Moreover how would you stop tones of perfumes, silk clothing, plucked eyebrows, gold watches, gold rings, gold ornaments, hairs straightened (list is long) from being transported to Church? My good friend at Tailor’s Point, one of the up market boutiques for men showed me an Italian Shirting costing Rs 17000 per meter. This means a shirt piece would cost almost 40,000. Wearing it is not a sin but poor souls like me wearing a T Shirt worth Rs 300 is a sin.


The Pentecostal Church, famous for picking up bits and pieces from Bible to justify their point of view, is the biggest offender in this saga. They don’t wear gold or any other ornaments. But each of them has a Rado or TAG Heuer. Their weddings are one of the costliest in terms of dress materials and food items but yet claim they are closer to God by not wearing ornaments.


If I argue this with any of the Pentecostal members, they will open the Bible in a split of a second and show me Genesis 35:2 which says – “Let us not allow the worldly, wrongly and wickedly dress fashion to be one of the gods in our lives. We need to cleanse and change our garments.”


And with absolute no knowledge of Bible, I will be left speechless. And since they are smart with Bible, they will further flip to Timothy 2:9-10 or Matthew 5:28. They will certainly show me the basic tenets of their faith - All Christian women should not wear the garments that pertain to the harlot – taken in bits and pieces from Proverbs 7:10; Isaiah 47:1-5.


While it is fair to call upon the believers to dress simple, putting pressure on them to wear what the priests and bishops like is undemocratic. 


When I see animal activists of Hindu Fundamentalist parties limiting their protest against killing of animals to only cow, I wonder what Goat, Chickens and Buffalloes have done to them. In a similar way I was wondering what sin has Jeans done to the Church to ask for its overall ban.


The first and the foremost, to me, is that almost all criminals wear Jeans. They are also favourite dress for hippies and rascals and all non-believers. More so Jeans is called "breeches" in Exodus 28:42.


Not wearing a Jeans and T Shirt is not a sign of modesty. One has to go overboard to make Clergy understand what the purpose of clothing is. It remains the same as mentioned in Genesis 3:7 even thousands of years after Adam and Eve realized it. In fact clothing is meant for covering the body, not revealing it and this is what the entire quotes from Bible also meant. But when twisted, these scriptures can mean anything. Jeans and T Shirts also serves the same purpose that the Clergies are calling for with other type of dress codes that we are no longer naked and unashamed.


I follow what my conscience says and I am pretty sure that it is not only Biblical but also social. There is a famous saying in Hindi by Habib Jhalib which goes like this 


ऐसे दस्तूर को, सुभ ए बेनूर को, मैं नहीं मानता मैं नहीं जानता




And I am an ardent fan of this unsung poet.

Voice of dissent can never be tolerated in a democracy

Voice of dissent can never be tolerated in a democracy. Confused? Believe it or not, this is the reality in India. You cannot talk to Medha Patkar and then live in Gujarat because she has fought for some ‘unwanted tribal’ depriving the enterprising people of Gujarat the most precious water from Narmada. You cannot voice your opinion against the large scale industrial loot in the name of economical growth because it will deter foreign investors from coming to India. 


You should be as superman to read any piece by Arundhati Roy because she is a right wing labeled left wing terrorist. You cannot enjoy M F Hussain art because his drawing had hurt somebody somewhere and no one remembers who these people are. You cannot say anything against the religious tourism subsidy being doled out for no reasons to a particular community because it will have major repercussions including cold blooded murder. You cannot object to the actions of a particular chief minister of a state for his role in a sectarian violence because a decade has passed and it is time to forget and forgive and also because he is the darling of masses and a prime ministerial candidate. 


There are other exceptions too. You cannot offer a rose to your lover because a particular Sene has objection. You have to put the local language on your shop because a particular party doesn’t understand Hindi or likes Hindi speaking people. Anti-Hindi south Indian parties indulge in similar but more dramatic activities down south. January 1 is not your new year because there are parties around the globe. Inter religious relation and dialogues have become the biggest taboo. Dating and courting is out question and same sex relations cant even be a thought process.


The biggest of all these is the Kashmir issue. Because it is not debated well, no one knows what the issue is especially the youths. What they know is a piece of land under Indian occupation which is being snatched forcibly by Pakistan. Beyond this even those who hit Prashant Bhushan may not know.


In the process of curtailing freedom of expression, we have curtailed the knowledge acquisition process of an entire generation. No youths want to know or debate any controversial issue because it will label them as right wing or left wing or pseudo secular or a terrorist. Universities and colleges have stopped open debates because it could turn into ugly war. Friends from different religion and caste is a thing of past. Many Hindu youths studying in posh schools have never met a Muslim in their entire life and vice versa with Muslim students.


Where is this leading us to? Make no mistake, we are going to face anarchy – in true Rajnikant style.


And still we castigate our doubts over Saudi Arabia, Iran and other so called conservative countries? At least they accept what they are doing. We don’t.

Story of a social network traitor

Binu Alex
Post August 16, 2011, two types of India emerged. Nationalists and Traitors, thanks to Bush doctrine. If you give good TRPs to the roaring televisions, high traffic to social networks like Facebok and Twitter, put Anna’s picture on your Facebook profile, have a candle vigil and have your kids put up a good demonstration in front of television cameras, you are a crusader against corruption, a true patriot. Or else……..

Suddenly all political leaders have become caricatures. Baba Ramdev, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Anna Hazare, Kapil Sibal have all figured and interestingly not a single BJP leaders are in this list. Not a single soul made even a slight remark of Gujarat High Court asking the government of Gujarat why it has not appointed a Lokayukta despite its instructions. Convenience is the key to escapism.

I have some 300 odd friends on my Facebook and 99 per cent of them consider me as a traitor because I don’t support this. This is my story, story of a traitor, a social network traitor.

I don’t support this because I know this is not going to end corruption. I also know very well that corruption is not a temporary phenomenon that can be eradicated with a protest or fast. It is a disease and the best way to eradicate it is to clean the channels, which makes corruption so easy to develop and spread. I have been with some of the most corrupt people for ten long years in one of the most corrupt government departments in this country. It is easy to be corrupt in any government department. But it takes real courage to be straight and non-corrupt just like the current movement. It is easy to join a protest and flow with the stream. It takes courage to take a stand. I take a stand and I am out of contention for best Indian patriot.

Today we have an unprecedented nationally telecast, emotionally charged carnival running across the country written and directed by TRP hungry televisions’ well fed journalists who demonstrates live on TV each and every action of the main protagonist. They bring kids from around the ground and asks questions which an average TRP giving viewer would like to hear and feel proud of the movement. There are mimicry artists like Kumar Vishwas to keep the public busy. There are bhajans, orchestra, doctor visits and everything that can beat the best running soap opera.

So when I add myself to the countless number of people into Facebook with my own opinion, I immediately get response in different forms. Almost all of them painting me as a traitor – a social network traitor. According to them, by not supporting Anna, I am encouraging corruption. And what are they trying to do after eradicating corruption and bringing back the foreign stuffed black money back to India? They are going to have a big bash. Here is one observation :

“My dear frnds, If all black money comes back to India then Beer 8Rs Vodka 20Rs Whisky 35Rs ...Wine 45Rs Champagne 55Rs Soda 1.25Rs Atleasttt now support Anna... :-)..”

The entire movement has become a joke and still a majority of Indians still do not understand the underlying danger behind this. Their arguments are simple. ‘You can be wrong, but the entire country cant. See how they have marched in millions in support of this cause and you are the lone man standing.’

So much so that the most vocal critics of media who used to abuse the television channels just last week back are now putting rose petals on their TV. The opportunists they are, the chauvinism they show is unbearable. India has become a convenience store where you do whatever you like at whatever cost to the exchequer or the unity of the country.

I was going through a message put up by the Modi bête noire, Sanjeev Bhatt that said “Corruption has its own motivations and is self-perpetuating. No Ombudsman, howsoever powerful or no Law, howsover stringent can effectively deal with corruption untill we thoroughly study the phenomenon of corruption and eliminate the very conditions that breed and nourish it.”

I fully agree with this. But the biggest problem here is execution. How can you wash a man who is laced with corruption from tip to toe? Is it through another bill? Thanks to Raja and Kalmadi, India has found a new hero in Anna Hazare. The team behind this Gandhian simple person is cultivating Anna to be the alternative to the current disposition, creating a myth that introducing the Lokpal will eliminate corruption in the country despite the fact that two of the Anna Team were once government officials.

Arvind Kejriwal worked for Income-tax, one of the biggest breeding centre of corruption. Kiran Bedi worked for police department, where corruption is next to God. Both of them are very well aware that this bill is not going to change the corruption standards in this country. But this is their chance. Now or never. They are bargaining hard to get this bill passed and also to create a new hegemony where a select few civil activists will run the country from their backyard – without actually going to the people or being elected from any constituency.

I asked myself a question. Have I voted these people to represent me? No. So is this a Lokpal bill or Annapal Bill? But then those people whom I voted to represent never represented me anywhere. This is my grievance and shared by millions of people. This brings to what Arundhati Roy wrote in her article (read here) “This crisis has been forged out of the utter failure of India's representative democracy, in which the legislatures are made up of criminals and millionaire politicians who have ceased to represent its people. In which not a single democratic institution is accessible to ordinary people.”

Knowing very well that this is nothing but a carnival without any result (even taking into consideration that Annapal Bill will be passed without any changes), I have no option but to put my frustrations in social networking sites. But then that brings to the core question about your loyalty to the country.

Today, I am a social networking traitor. I don’t know about tomorrow because there is nothing called tomorrow.

School Reunion – Great memories

Does distance matter in friendship? This was the first point raised when some of us met to discuss the venue of our class reunion. It took us less than a minute to finally say, Damn, how does it matter.

Yes, the crowd at the official second reunion of 1988-89 and 90 batch proved us right. And the fact that the news of this meeting spread like wild fire soliciting calls for invites surprised us and made us to believe that at any level of life, school life is something that people cherish forever.

So when Rajya (Rajeev Agarwal  fondly called) offered his farm house, we had a sigh of relief. Primarily because we had initially thought of a banquet hall which would have become a marriage reception party. We realized people need space and freedom to move around and nothing can prevent people from recognizing each other if such space is provided. Not even the distance.

The farm was almost empty at 7 in the evening. By 8, there was no space to move around.  It was a great sight to see friends hug and then asking each other to identify.

Nowhere on earth you get the freedom to open up as it is with school friends. We will make this an annual event and for this to happen we have now formed a page wherein all your remarks are expected to come. This is where we will interact further.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amrut-School-Reunion/105106792872441?sk=wall

Go to the above link and you will find a Like button. Click on it and you automatically become its member. This page will be displayed on your Wall wherein you can post your comments to each other. Please spread the word and let the classmates come and join this page.

So it was a great meeting acknowledge by one and all. There were many hands behind the success of this event.

Let me thank Manoj Dalal for his unrelenting work of calling up people, Dinesh Agarwal for his valuable time and energy, Rajeev Agarwal for his everlasting openness, Mahavir and Narendra Lunkar for all the support towards making this a grand event. Nikhil Anand towards his great work in preserving this nostalgia in frames. He will be uploading the pictures in a day or two after he comes back from one of his assignments.

A big applause to those who made it to the event. Even a bigger one to the families of these batchmates who came with them and bore the brunt of extended friendship. Of course how can we forget the effort of our esteemed teachers who are happy that the values and belief they bestowed on their students didn’t go waste.

Binu Alex

Craft of Graft

Graft is a word hitherto unheard in India. It used to be corruption. Now this new craft has come to the fore? How and Why?

Earlier there used to be simple corruption. People would take money and give money. Now it has taken a different genre. You can use the style that Reliance uses which is the corporate style, very raw and rural way called Pawar route or athletically using Kalmadi highway. And how can you forget the most modern wireless route of Raja?

Now in general, these are not corruption. They are graft and they need to be treated in a different way. If you have any idea, then please keep it to yourself because it is not going to work in India, the country of grafters.