Lets do our bit...

Over the past fortnight, a new war for independence was fought all over the country. Some participated, some supported from far, some were not bothered and some felt we cant get anywhere. I feel all these are people are correct in one way or the other. The government has cleared the decks for a strong lokpal or so it may seem. The politicians showed great sign of maturity in the parlimentary discussion y'day gaining some respect back. The Lokpal has still some way to go before it becomes a law and how effective it would be will only be known in a few years from now. At this point, we got to give credit to the government to have taken a bold move to sign on their own potential arrest warrants.

I want to highlight on the view of a middle class Indian. The middle class to a large extent still feel they can afford to pay a bribe. I am sorry to say, we are exactly the people who cannot afford to. The poor dont know what to do and the rich are probably forced by the officials. The middle class are educated and know what to do, but hardly take up the issue head on. The positive trend in the past fortnight has been that the average middle class Indian has come in support of anti corruption. In the last few decades this is probably the only time when the middle class has asserted that they matter in the political equation of the country. Twice in the last decade, I saw that the middle class did not matter. First When BJP was voted out of power with their India Shining campaign and and again when Congress was voted back to power based on their pro-poor and pro-rural policies. With swelling middle class numbers in the country, asserting their position and taking political views is a positive sign for the development of the country.

I am of the view that the Lokpal in itself is not the only solution. There has to be much more done to address the issue of corruption. The events in the past year have surely made me feel we are on the right trajectory albeit moving slowly. Scams were always happening in this country, but we have seen some changes now. Some ministers chargesheeted, some behind the bars and a CM biting the dust. The politicians are surely not proactive in acting against the corrupt, but at least reactive and under pressure to act. I think we need to believe that we are on the right track and positively moving towards a corruption free society.

I strongly believe, the middle class has a lot more responsibility than the others. We must not only take political positions and participate in rallies but take a vow to end corrpution in our own lives. We are educated and we must know the means to end corruption and take steps towards it. I would want to highlight on some simple things we can do. I am sure there are a lot more things we can do and I would like to hear from you.

• Vote. As I said we were never a part of political equations, its high time we make it count. Its our responsibility. Read about your candidate, know his views on things and come out to vote. Most representatives have websites, so you dont need to go out to get information. If a representative doesnt have a website, then middle class is not in his equation.

• Dont break rules. This according to me is the first step where corruption begins. Be it traffic rules or getting some work done, go by the rule. All govt agencies have their websites and FAQs Read through them, understand what needs to be done and go by the rule book. Avoid roping in an agent at the first go at least.

• Speak up. Most of the government agencies have "Citizen Charters". Download them and take them with you when you go for work. If your work is not going as per the rulebook, raise your voice. Give it a shot. The officials generally fear assertive ppl and those who know the rule.

• Own up. In the worst case you have to bribe, own it and report it. Use the media if possible or report it on websites like http://ipaidabribe.com/. At least somebody else can fight on.

We are equally responsible for making the system corruption free. The government can make and pass a law. They can bring in transperency with technological advancements. But end of day, we the people have to wake up and take responsibility. We are a nation looking for heroes always, its high time we look for a hero within us.

God's Own Country???

A friday evening is always a pleasant time. But it was not so that friday evening during my training days. Our postings were out. I saw the list and was shell shocked. I had been posted to Trivandrum. I just sat there not knowing what to do. Tried to find someone who could swap locations with me but even ppl from there were not willing to. That made me even more skeptical about the place. After a lot of convincing myself and with no option left I moved to Trivandrum to start off my career...

First Impression!

I have been used to being in big cities with life moving at frantic pace. This place did not have any characteristics of a big city - no much traffic, not many signal lights, not many huge roads, no pollution. My first impression was that of a big town. Life is so different from what I am used to. I get out of home at 8 in the night to see all the shops closed. I get to the city on a weekend and all is closed. During my first week here there was some sort of a bandh. I just got out of home to get a feel of how the place looks during a bandh - simply everything is closed, all so deserted! The freshness in the air and the greenery were so welcome. Was not really sure how things will shape up...

Shopkeepers drive me crazy!

I don't think I will ever understand the way business runs in this place. I defies all normal business logic. Customer service is not heard of. Shops are there for shop keepers not for the customers. Shops open and close like office hours! Their logic is simply this - why must I work more than a office-goer does. A couple of incidents during my interaction at the market here were beyond comprehension.

Once went to the vegetable market. My first shock - you cannot even touch the vegetables before you buy! n then - no bargaining! forget about bargaining... I bargained once and he did not agree. That's fine! I came down to his price and guess what he says - "I don't want to sell it to you"! I am like, what the hell! I go the vendor next to him and the first guy tells him not to sell. I did not know whether to get angry or laugh. I have experienced things like this last in primary school - you did not give a chocolate to my friend, so I wont talk to you!!! :-)

Second experience was even more funnier. I once went to buy banana chips(Yep, its famous out here). Asked him for 2 kilos and also told him to make packs of quarter kilo each. He made 4 packs and then said he doesn't want to do the rest! He said - I will give u 4 covers, you can make the packs or you buy just a kilo! It totally shook me! Nowhere I have seen an attitude like this from a shopkeeper. He is ready to lose one kilo worth of business, but not ready to do a bit of extra work.

Outsider!

I guess I always remained an outsider to the place. I had a tough time interacting with people in any language other than theirs. Being a vegetarian means that you virtually don't eat anything at all. I cant clap my hands in a movie theatre. I cant go to a restaurant with my family and sit quiet. Hardly seen people interact with each other. I hear that Keralites are one of the few Indians who can survive anywhere in the world. But I don't understand why the same people are so different here. The maid servant at our house doesn't want to work on Sundays. Her logic is if offices are closed, why should I be working. Sometimes I think the hotels would close for a lunch break!!!

I had my time!

Well, its not been all bad out here as well. I have had some of the best times of my life. I have had a great set of friends. I have had some of the most amazing trips and treks out here with them. I have had lots of time to spend at home and with myself - which I always wanted to do. I have had a chance to visit a lot of places out here which are simply breathtaking. I have had coffee at the best place I could think of - on top of my office building, sea at a distance and greenery all around. I have had parties in some of the best resorts out here. I have watched almost all the movies released in the past two years during the first weekend of release! Work wise its the best two years I could think of!

Signing off from here...

I am sure I will miss the place once I am out of here. But to what extent? I don't know. May be when I get struck up in Bangalore traffic. Or may be when I will struggle for time with myself. Or may be when I want to get out of the city and walk in the beach. But somethings here beat my thinking. Makes me wonder if literacy is everything! After all this is a place of one hundred per cent literacy!

Its about "Dadagiri"!!!

Na... I am not posting against the core theme of "Lage Raho Munnabhai"! That's a splendid movie. I ran like crazy from theatre to theatre on the first Sunday morning of its release. I got the ticket at the fourth theatre I tried at and it was all worth it... Non stop laughing for the entire duration and some food for thought as well. Nopes, I did not want to speak about to movie but about dada - Saurav Ganguly.

What a comeback he has made! There was determination in his innings. He played much more maturely than he used to. He was there to stay! And did he make a statement - of course he did. He has always made... He was dropped after one match in '92 and made a statement when he returned at Lord's. He took over the captaincy when Indian cricket were in shambles after the match-fixing controversy. He built the team around him and led them from the front. He transformed it from the Indian team to Team India! And when he was dropped... that's the time I liked him the most. He did not keep quiet. He spoke about his intentions of playing again and worked on his game. I somehow did like the Pepsi ad too - I believe you require lots of guts to do an ad like that!!! Saurav surely has that... You cant take your shirt off and wave it at the Lord's balcony without guts!

Coming here he knew that he had to perform. He knew that if he fails out here then its going to be never again. He played with immense determination and that paid off...! That was an amazing performance from him... Hope to see many more towering sixes of spinners, those sweetly timed drives, classy cuts and sometimes a huge six of a pull!!! Way to go dada!

Hey hold... it was not an one man show either! The whole team played well and gave the best they could...It was a total team effort. The players do have a fear of coming home losing anyways...!!! After all the faith was lost during the ODI's they had to do good to at least return safe home. I had lost all my faith on the team already(Read more) and if I were not sick and on the bed, I would not have watched this match as well. It did do some good to restore my faith in the team and hope that its just a beginning!!!

The "madness" called Cricket!

Well, seeing India play in the last few matches reminded me of the old days. There was a time when India could not play on fast tracks. It was the time when Indian bowlers would perform to some extent on such tracks but the Indian batsmen would go to the middle, struggle for some time and return to the pavilion. It was the time when the opposition would target just one Indian batsmen - Sachin Tendulkar. That was some time back!!! There was a brief time when the opposition was vary of the Indian "Team" not the one Indian batsmen. Today we have gone back to the old times. Its the same fast tracks and the same one man army! Its the same situation and nothing has changed in years.

India is a country where cricket is our only secular religion. But are we doing enough justice to it? There are a lot of other sports in which Indians prosper, but they dont ever come into limelight(Sania is the only exception, looks do matter I guess!!!) Right from the common man on the street to the MPs in the parliament all have an opinion on the Indian Team. All have an idea and a suggestion to improve. We ignore the other sports simply because its not cricket. And are things good at least in that. No... the cricket is not going anywhere as well.

Indian players are way too busy walking on the ramps. The cricket board is way too busy making multi million deals for the telecast rights. The Parliament is way too busy expressing their disappointment about the coach. The man on street is busy making his dream team for the world cup. Is there anybody out there who is busy with cricket? Is there anybody who is taking the responsibility and doing something about the game? The captain says that there is pressure and that the team got to perform well. The coach says that the players are out of form and they have to perform. The selection committee chairman says that we dont have enough talented players in the country. Well, who is actually doing something towards it?

I dont know why the sponsors are still paying heavy money to these people(Or may be I know!). Airtel dropped Sachin as their brand ambassador. Will others follow? Talking business they would not! Cricket still sells in this country. Still people like to see Dhoni's new hairstyle, Dravid's handsome looks... Airtel got to learn from the TV channels. The news channels host chat shows to discuss "Are we giving too much attention to cricket?". And that gets them maximum viewer ratings. What do I say now? ESPN Star telecasts the same match on both their channels and still have great viewer ratings. Cricket will continue to rule the TV till the madness for the game continues!!!

Why am I speaking all this out here? There was a time when I used to watch all the matches, now I have come to a stage where I just see the score and switch the tv off. I have stopped watching cricket and started to follow other sports. But I continue to be amazed how the whole country and countless brands still run on cricket!

Ignorance Is Bliss?

Whenever I have come across this saying, my mind crosses over to the other saying "Knowledge is Power". They are two totally contradictory sayings and yet wondered how both of them can be true. I remember my parents always telling me that Knowledge is everything in life. Most of us have grown with this paradigm. And ya, today we all know that knowledge is truly powerful. Indians are making a mark all over the world is a testimony to that. Today knowledge drives the economy and there is no doubts on that. But then, I have been thinking of ignorance. Is it bliss even today? Does the saying hold good today as we move increasingly move towards a knowledge economy?

In the last week, I happened to see an interview with the Railway Minister. Should I say it was funny? Well, Laloo has been the darling of the media. He simply spices it up! Be it his hairstyle or accent or simply his looks. There was a time when Laloo jokes were more popular than the Sardar jokes. But now things are pretty much different. He gives guest lectures at the most prestigous B - school in India. He has to his name the most stunning turnover of the biggest public sector organisation in the country. From the verge of bankruptcy to sit on a 100 billion is by no means a joke. The recent mid term polls suggest Laloo to be most popular ministers in the present government. And why not? No passenger fare hikes for some time now and the facilities are simply improving. And the employees of the Railways are getting incentives the private sector way - Laptops for senior officials!!! Long live Railways.

What catapults Laloo from the most corrupt leader to a guest lecturer at IIM-A? Is he a genius? Ya he is witty! But does he know how to run the Railways? No is the answer. He is a totally ignorant when it comes to the business of the Railways. But then how does it work? Its simply that he leaves the job to the people who know. He simply hasnt interefered in the running of the business. He knows that the people at the Railways and the bureacrats know their job. He is doing a great job by actually not doing anything at all - Not even poking his nose into it. He does not say - "Well I know it all!" He instead says - "I am ignorant of things out here. Its you who know, so run it and I will not interfere". Does it work? Of course it does!

Back to ignorance now. Is it still a bliss? I would say yes, but with a difference. Its not a bliss if you are just ignorant. You got to accept that you are ignorant and act accordingly. Ignorance with honest acceptance is truly bliss! Well, in the same interview, he said that he wanted to be the PM of the country. Now I dont know how to react to this? To think of how he did it to the Railways I would say ya, he can make a good PM. But are we matured enough to accept him as the PM? Are we (read knowledgable) ready to look at him as our leader? He is a joker agreed! But if Bush can be the President of the US of A, then why not Laloo!