Let’s give AAP a chance, we have nothing to lose

I personally do not agree with AK’s “My way or the highway” mentality, nor do I believe that the Lokpal/ Janlokpal is the magic wand to clear all woes of the country. My views on this are already here- http://random-seriousness.blogspot.in/2011/09/why-janlokpal-will-die-silent-death.html  But as the polling day nears, I find myself increasingly wishing that AAP makes a dent, and a big one at that, in the BJP’s and the Congress’ vote share, and by extension, their bloated egos.

Politics today has become a huge melting pot of sorts, with everyone from corrupt journalists to young IAS’ aiming to join the nexus of power and money. During independence, the Sikhs decided to stay with a predominantly Hindu nation because they had a “roti-beti ka rishta” i.e. a culture of intermarriage and common eating. This amazing culture that saved a nation once has now turned into a disaster. Giving your daughter to someone was a mark of the absolute trust placed in each other. Cut to today, it’s not difficult to see instances of BJP/Congress leaders’ marrying their daughters into wealthy corporate houses, or even worse, into each other’s houses. This undying trust cuts across party and even ideological lines and is bound by a common love for money and power.

My home state Uttrakhand was founded on the premise of focused governance for the hill folk.  Over the years, people realised that the only reason politicians supported this was to ensure a greater number of red beacons in the state. I’m sure Uttrakhand today is the only state where there are greater numbers of red beacon vehicles in the state than the total MLA seats, both sides combined. The state of a department is inversely proportional to the size of the houses of the involved officers. It’s not uncommon to find small government officers (Net salary <50000 pm) living in huge mansions worth crores of rupees. Even the young IAS’ (The IIT-IAS types) have not been able to arrest this. In fact they are the ones colluding to increase this menace. It’s not hidden from anyone thata serving IIT educated IAS officer was found with Rs. 4 crore cash in his car that crashed killing him. That he was an IAS made sure that this story never made the headlines. Last year, a capable party founded and led by ex- Army/ IAS/ Doctors was in the election fray. They hoped to trounce the BJP and get the state in order. The end result- all participants lost their deposit, and the “Uttrakhand Raksha Morcha” as it was called fizzled out. The congress BJP combine continued on their path to plunder, this time under a Congress regime headed by an ex High court judge who had to resign on corruption charges.

That’s what I fear in Delhi- if the AAP loses, the entire honesty brigade will fizzle out, and people will return to their lives with the same slogan- Iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta. A win here will prompt a nationwide revolution against the current brand of politics and in the long term- that’s what we want. It will also prompt the Congress and the BJP to get their houses in order, and work towards genuine political work. To those who say that AAP doesn’t have the required experience- I would say it’s not difficult to gain that while working- especially when the leaders have some experience in the government. Anyways, we have nothing to lose. Delhi being a Union Territory - even matters as trivial as law and order are not under the state government. The presence of the Central Government here as also the powerful Municipal Corporations leaves little for the state government to mismanage. On the positive- the city is a beacon for the entire country and a change here will lead to a change everywhere. 

So personal differences aside- I call on everyone to give AAP a chance, let’s see what they bring on the table. Im sure honesty is one, and in today's world of Icons falling everyday, that may turn out to be the Sanjeevani Booti.

We as a nation

Its not the first time that I was hearing this: Iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta. But this time it was different. It was not coming from another cubicle bound software engineer, but from someone who left the green meadows to plough the fields back home. A dear friend, who left the relative ease of the corporate world to join scores of aspirants shuttling in and out of various coachings chasing the elusive dream called IAS, was now leaving the country to contribute to the brain drain that we so eloquently talk about.

I sat down to think, what are we doing wrong as a nation. A friend recently told me that in order to become successful, two full generations of a country have to slog hard in difficult times. He cited China, Japan, even Thailand as examples. True! but then which are the two generations that would have to take this mantle. Is it ours. Yes, if not entirely. Our grandparents really did not know how to handle the newly found independence. They did not have the benefit of hindsight, nor was there the money and the expertise of technology. Our fathers did, in some measure have the benefits. Our generation, blissfully has the advantage of technology. An advantage, that belies all other disadvantages we may have as a nation (with the possible exception of internet speed). To be true, I am sometimes amazed looking at the various memes floating on the net. We have exactly the same tastes, preferences, and knowledge as any other of our generation in any country. That is the power of globalization. We can acquire as much knowledge and expertise as required within the comfort of our chairs. I'm not discounting the power of globetrotting, and global education- Im sure it's in my list of to  do's in life as well. But to leave your home country in disgust with an aim to settle abroad surely is a warning bell.

So why are our countrymen turning into people cynical of everything- the corporations, the government, the lowers, the uppers. Just today I read an elaborate article in Open that talked about foreign funding of NGOs and how they are potentially harmful to the country.  Notwithstanding the awesome results from the stable of NGOs of the likes of MKSS, PRS, TERI and CSE- we are still skeptical.  However, where the country should be skeptical, we remain silent. I remember a  dialogue from the movie Oh My God, where one of the priests says-"The problem with people is that they are not God loving, they are God fearing"- They look for ways to please god, in order to get on with life.

Apply the same to our people. We want messiahs or people who would deliver us from all the wrongs in the society. RG may have no idea about the politics of the country- but look at people in the villages, for them he is what will deliver them from their misery. Modi's biggest supporters claim he will ensure transparency/ accountability. What they forget is that bulk of the system will remain comprised of the same people. Palm greasing is and will remain the norm till the people change their minds. A ruthless administrator cannot keep a check on 125 billion people.

Similarly, what we lack is the followup- I can point out certain instances where our anger vanished as soon as the story was off air:

• Anna hazare: All those who were roaming around with "I am Anna" caps last year won't even know where the bill is stuck today.
• Coalgate: The companies are functioning as usual, raking in the moolah
• Helicopter Scam: No body has yet asked the question- What was the Indian government doing all along?
• Vadragate: Last known, he has even got huge land tracts in Rajasthan at throwaway prices (mis)using the National Solar Policy- the BJP is quiet for some reason, and so is the press!
• Italian marines: Went home for Christmas, and will now go home to vote. No chargesheet filed.
• Kudankulam: The brouhaha over, nobody knows the state and fate of the project
• Leave these old timers: I recently read in the papers about the Delhi Rape Case- the victim's friend, who had pointed fingers at the police earlier, now says the police did a good job. Nobody raises a question, and the entire Jantar Mantar attendance is sipping coffee in the cold Delhi winters.

It is such lack of followups that makes the country weaker by the day. Such leaders know it will be a 10 day hoopla over issues, post which they can resume their vote bank politics, the nepotism, and the siphoning off of public money to last an eternity.

I wrote this earlier, but till the point all of us become responsible enough  to ask tough questions, to follow it up with actionable inputs and make this country a better place to be in, we will continue to see the despair in the eyes of the generation that is responsible to make this country a superpower. That invariably, will contribute to the best brains going abroad, and our country being ruled by dumb and corrupt people for atleast another generation- and probably we will miss the bus again!