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Some Q&A’s about Corruption and the ongoing movement against it

I have been hearing many questions in the minds of people regarding the ongoing movement against corruption. In this post, I have tried to document and answer (according to my thinking) some of the most frequently asked questions. These questions have been asked on social media websites or on my blog on the articles I have written related to the Anna Hazare led movement.

Q – I do not identify myself with no corruption. Can those lakhs of people pledge on their life that they will never ever engage in corruption?

A –  It is very important to see people who give bribes (for small/individual corruption) as victims and not culprits.. I think most of the us will prefer not giving bribe if work can be done without it. Big corporate and large scale corruption is another matter altogether. They use corruption for their own advantage, while the common man mostly has to shelve money to get something which is his/her right, like getting the passport, or a birth or marriage certificate, etc.

People supported in their own unique ways

People supported in their own unique ways

Q –  It’s a part of our mindset. Its more of a psychology thing. It can be reduced, but never totally eradicated.

A – Yes, it is a part of mindset and can’t be totally eradicated. But it can be reduced from 90% to say 10-20%.. And to do so, it means people will have to be disciplined (not jumping red lights, wearing helmets, following rules, etc) and might have to suffer some hardships or harassments in the short term. But we need to take these in our strides for long term benefits.

Q – The only factor that prevents corruption is fear. Until that is very strong, it cannot stop. My only wish is Jan lok pal bill will instill the fear in the hearts of corrupt people, of strict punishment. If not then I think it wont prove worthy..

A –  I agree. Corruption is a high profit and low risk business now… A strong law will make it low profit high risk business… If this happens most people will automatically become non-corrupt… It’s simple human psychology to not indulge in high risk activities. See what happened in Hong Kong..

Q –  Its a vicious circle. Who will make the law ? What if the lawmakers are themselves corrupt ? What if the Jan Lok Pal Bill committee members are themselves corrupt ? Who will preside over them ? What if they are corrupt too ?

A -The government / parliament has to make the law.. I agree the lawmakers are themselves corrupt and hence they will make law only under public pressure.. They will make it only if they know that people will not vote for them if they don’t make this law… We saw a glimpse of that in the current protests… and thats why keeping public pressure is VERY important… Infact I would say that, Public Pressure is not only important but also necessary in a democracy…

Ganesha Chaturthi idol like Anna

Ganesha Chaturthi idol like Anna

Q – Can a single law stop corruption?

A – The answer is YES and NO. A single law can act as a strong deterrent for people who want to indulge in corrupt activities. It can reduce the corruption levels considerably by turning corruption into a low profit high risk business, but it can’t eradicate corruption totally, for sure. We need to work on three areas in parallel if we want to reduce corruption –

1. Punishment for corrupt – Jan Lokpal Bill will serve this purpose.

2. Education : Moral and Legal – We need to spread moral awareness among our youth, preferably from the school level, about why is it bad to indulge in corruption, and how it can harm ourselves, the society and the country in the long term. We need to bring up our children in an environment of high moral standards.

3. Constant modifications of laws and processes – We are in a democracy, and we can always made amendments to laws, systems and processes if we feel the need to. There should be constant monitoring of laws and systems already in place, and constant modifications to them must be suggested and implemented to reduce the possibility of anybody indulging in corruption. Examples are putting CVC and CBI under Lokpal, implementing Citizen’s Charter, etc

Q – These methods of protests are undemocratic?

A – Actually, this was the biggest win of the democratic process!! What we saw was parliament doing what the public wants.. that is what democracy is all about. A little public pressure is always required for a democracy to work properly. But it’s just half the battle won, if the government backtracks on this commitment, this movement will spread across every nook and corner of the country and they won’t get any votes in 2014… What was heartening was seeing even the opposition engaging in proper debates and not just adjournment drama as even they have a responsibility in a democracy.. and the failure of the opposition was the reason in the first place why someone like Anna got such huge following from the people… If the protests by the people made the government take corruption seriously and even made the opposition work sincerely, how can this be against democracy!!

Q – Are we expecting a ”Nayak” movie scenario where thousands of government and corrupt people would be affected?? Can we expect govt. services to be reliable and affordable rather than private sectors? Can we see common man benefitting and in what areas??

A – Considering the levels at which corruption has seeped into our babudom, it won’t be a surprise if a large number of officials are suspended or penalized after Lokpal becomes official. But it would be foolish to believe that change will happen overnight and corruption will disappear. Even after Lokpal Bill, it will take a long time (in years) to eradicate the cancer of corruption from our society. Even Lokpal will have its loopholes and limitations which would need to plugged by further amendments to the law as and when required. Expecting government services to be better than private sector is another matter as a lot more than corruption need to be tamed for that. Government companies need to be run by CEOs in a professional manner rather than politicians and babus for that to happen. The common man will certainly benefit, and in every area, directly or indirectly, as he won’t have to shell out money as bribes, and secondly, his tax money will be properly used in public services which will come to benefit him sooner or later.

How Motorcycle Riding makes you Live in the Moment?

Motorcycle Riding is much more than an adventure activity. You get the adrenaline rush through bungee jumping as well as sky diving, but motorcycle riding, according to me, is a lot more than that. I have always loved traveling and I plan to travel as much as possible before my time runs out. But I am grateful that I started long distance touring on motorcycles, for it has been much more fun than simple traveling and adventure.

Riding a motorcycle literally forces you to live in the moment as you have to be focused and alert all the time. It gives you the freedom from your daily tensions and trivial issues putting you at peace with yourself. If you want to know why, compare motorcycle riding with other adventure sports. Even with bungee jumping and sky diving, you always have a safety net. A car also has a lot of safety features for the driver but in a motorcycle, it is much more risky and therefore it demands total and absolute attention of the rider.

As a rider, you have to be more alert as even a small mistake can lead to a big crash and severe injuries as you ride at high speeds on highways. Your reflexes must be very quick and any distraction from your daily life can be disastrous. Due to these conditions, you are forced to live in the moment, and forget about everything else, as the danger of death is very real. It feels like a state of bliss, where you are totally in the surroundings and you experience the wind, rains or the sun as the weather unfolds.

Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.

Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence.

When you ride, you see vast open areas of land. Most of these are farms, some small hillocks or just plain barren lands. The serenity is broken only by a few restaurants and petrol pumps on the way. It kinds of clears your mind of all the unnecessary clutter which we allow to settle in our minds in our mundane routine. It is so peaceful when you see the rubber rolling on the tar and it feels like an escape. An escape where you can feel the chill in the air when you are in the ghats, where you can feel and get wet from every drop of rain, where you can see the sounds of various animals as you ride through the jungle, and where you can smell the scent of every tree and flower on the way. I can say that when I ride, I feel more alive, I can feel my breathing, I can feel myself once again.

So every now and then, I get onto my bike and ride out of the city. To leave behind all the tensions and so-called problems which accumulate in our daily lives. Getting onto my bike unsettles this dust and clears my mind so that instead I can focus on the only thing that matters, which is the current moment.

My weekly tweets archive for the week ending 2011-08-22

  • Now this is utmost shame for a PM… when students refuse to take degrees from him.. http://t.co/JhOFypu #
  • Let us all gather outside our local MPs house, sing bhajans and send Get Well Soon messages with flowers… #janlokpal #annahazare #
  • I was at Freedom Park today.. A huge sea of crowd is there.. People are going on the roads with tricolor on their… http://t.co/ldMios0 #
  • Wonderful!! http://t.co/vK4HVkY #
  • http://t.co/qLbqokS #
  • http://t.co/xnStmdN – 4 saal ho gaye 🙂 #
  • Anna enters the classroom – Many schools have given assignments to students to write about Anna's movement and… http://t.co/MY3ulLB #
  • Wonderfully written!! http://t.co/SvefK7c #
  • Need web developer / designer as a volunteer for Beyond Carlton: http://t.co/YyhjfyR #
  • SaleRaja completes 4 years today… and Perspective.. .Read on http://t.co/0JnGBXd #
  • One man inside a jail has arrested the Government #
  • Pics from the Dandeli ride over the long weekend http://t.co/2oB4mxy #
  • It all started here 🙂
    Hardly anybody knew Anna at the time of this rally (26 March) … Someone has rightly… http://t.co/TZFyjeE #
  • 5000 students in #freedompark #Bangalore # janlokpal #
  • "Forget the times of your distress, but never forget what they taught you." – Herbert Gesser #
  • India in Pictures.. in the last 65 years http://t.co/dZ9chFq #
  • As today unfolds, read this poem I posted today!! http://t.co/67Jcv3M #
  • 'I do not agree with what u have to say, but I will defend to the death ur right to say it' -Voltaire
    Twitter… http://t.co/VBSAwnR #
  • See this if you feel you are weak in an area and not capable of doing any task,.. http://t.co/m82cs3t #
  • The government can put section 144 in Delhi, but not in every street of the country. They can arrest Anna Hazare,… http://t.co/lf0f2oO #
  • Back to the internet world from total wilderness… Stayed amidst the forest when even the telephone network was… http://t.co/JgaP6Xt #

Why Receiving Is As Important As Giving?

Recently I have written about giving and what it can do for you, and creating a new culture of giving and helping is the vision behind PickaFight. In this article, I am going to focus on why the ability and openness to receive is as important as giving to constantly improve the quality of our lives. When we give out, it is also important to be open to receive, which is one of the toughest steps for us as human beings. Even receiving praise and appreciation makes us uneasy many times, leave alone to receive criticism, and the different lessons our setbacks bring along with them.

I see life as a journey and all of us as its pupils. We should look to enjoy the ride and feel its energy. There is so much to learn from each moment, be it moments of happiness, despair, sorrow or anger. We should always seek to be life’s students. The day we think we are the master of our lives, life has a knack of knocking us down to show us our place. For example, Sachin Tendulkar has almost all cricket batting records to his name. Still, you can see his humility and love for cricket whenever he speaks. He is always a student of cricket, and always looking to learn and receiving to improve his batting. He never goes out and says, “I am the master, I am the best, I don’t need to learn anymore.” Always be a student of life to truly enjoy what it has to offer.

We live in a world where learning and receiving is only linked with formal modes of education and training. So when a person finishes his school and college and moves into the professional world and later into family life, the emphasis on receiving declines. Every success makes us more confident and less open to receiving. Every failure or setback normally takes us into a blame game, whether we blame ourselves or somebody else. This makes us stubborn. What I am trying to say is that life is the biggest teacher and its every moment is a lesson. But it reaches only those who are open to receiving. This one ability is what makes all the difference in the quality of lives we live.

Always keep your minds open to receive

Always keep your minds open to receive

In my recent article, Seeking Comfort in Discomfort, I mentioned about learning from uncomfortable situations and people. This learning is only possible when we give up our ‘being right‘ or ‘the problem is not with me‘ attitude and are open to receive the lesson life has hidden in that moment. It takes patience and courage to really look deep inside and ask ourself, “What can I learn from this situation?” or “What is the next level I need to step upto to deal with this challenge?”

Life is always giving to us, be it through some situations, events or individuals. It only depends on us how much we want to receive. We receive only that much for what we are open. That is how some people have great lives and others don’t. If you the see the greatest achievers, be it in sports or business, the one thing you will find in common is the willingness to continuously learn from life, situations and people. ‘Kaizen‘, a Japanese concept which means “continuous improvement” is a perfect example of what I am saying. Kaizen is based on making little changes on a daily basis, to make things better, to make yourself better, day after day. It is applied in every aspect of a person’s life in Japan where we all know their industrial productivity standards are a benchmark all around the world.

All of what you want to do, everything you want to achieve, be it spiritual happiness or material goods, it can’t happen if you are not open to receive. And if you are, you will learn from life so much that you have no idea the kind of person you can become and the kind of results you can accomplish. If you don’t believe it, try to be open to receiving for the next few days. Just be aware of each situation you face, each person you met and try to introspect what you can learn from him/her. We can learn a lot from small and little things which we normally ignore. For example – You can learn from a janitor in your office the art of smiling and wishing everyone. Situations which don’t go the way you expected can teach you patience which is a very important virtue missing in our fast paced daily lives.

So just absorb yourselves in your daily lives and receive as much as possible for a few days. Try to implement what you receive to bring in daily improvements when you face similar situations in life again. Be aware of every moment. Don’t go on auto-pilot. See if you can make out any difference in a few days. I am telling you, you might be astonished.

Why Will I Not Trade Any Year of My Career for even a MIT / Harvard Degree?

When I passed out of college and finished my engineering in June 2005, I had appeared for GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) for the last two years to seek entrance to a M. Tech program. In 2005, I scored 97.25 percentile and an All India Rank of 744. Although I was disappointed by this scoring, I still got a call from NITIE Mumbai where they admit students for a PG program in management and IT based on GATE scores. I appeared for the interview, which went well, but was not named in the final list of selected candidates. I didn’t wanted to pursue a M.Tech in any regional college so that meant I started my professional career in July 2005 with InfoEdge India Ltd. Today, I can not be more glad that I didn’t get a good GATE score and could not clear the interview at NITIE.

Don't ask why? This pic has an interesting story behind it!!

Don't ask why? This pic has an interesting story behind it!!

It has been almost six years in my professional life now. And boy, what an adventure it has been! I call it an adventure because I have done some really crazy things in these six years. I have made great friends (for life) from my days at InfoEdge and frankly, enjoyed and had more fun than what I did during my college and hostel days. I did some pretty good work on 99acres and was leading the technical team of 14 people when I left InfoEdge in 2008. I started a startup (sukip.com and saleraja.com) with my school friends and ran it for 2.5 years. I joined a startup in Bangalore which had only 15 people. I started this blog in 2010, am writing regular articles and poems which are well received and am now working on my first book.

Now I am working at Yahoo! and getting the experience of a multinational corporation for the first time. In the last 10 months or so, I have taken initiatives in the areas of waste management, anti-corruption and now PickaFight. After moving to Bangalore, I have hopped to and from Delhi like anything, attending marriages of Gunjan, Shiv, Saurabh, Kinshuk, Prateek, Gaurav (though I missed Mukesh and Rinkesh’s) and many more friends, many times giving a total shock to my friends and family by landing in front of them out of nowhere 😉 I ride a bike which I never thought I can, have been on rides as long as 800 kms, and in between somehow I also learned French for 18 months, prepared for IAS entrance for some six months and made and lost money in the stock markets at different times. I can’t believe it has been only six years!! Phew..

The 2005 Gang.. All friends for life

The 2005 Gang.. All friends for life

The point I am making is, when normally doing a post graduation has become a norm these days, and even I wanted to do it, I have learned a lot lot more from the biggest teacher which is life. I have succeeded and stumbled, been happy and sad, felt trusted and betrayed, but in the course have gained from life what no formal education could have given. Today, if anybody asks me to trade any one of the last six years for a degree from the best of colleges like IIT, IIM, MIT or even the Harvard, I would say NO. Those degrees might be valuable in another way, but they can’t replace what I got in these past six years.

If I look back at the Sumit from six years ago, I can say I am still the same person at the core, the spontaneous and rebellious one, always looking to break the rules and do something new. But seeing from another angle, I have become a completely different person and I can’t recognize the person I was six years ago. I was a hard core techie then with no intention of going into management, now I have started and shut down a company and call myself an entrepreneur.  My views about life, women, people, friends and family have changed totally in the last six years. It is a new ME now, yet with the same CORE.

How have I changed?

If I was a bustling pot of energy back then, trying different things without any direction and easily exploited by any person, emotion or situation, now the energy is being directed for achieving meaningful goals, while acting more responsibly and being more aware of my duties as a son, brother, friend, and as a citizen. My confusion back then has given way to confidence, my frustration to focus, and my arrogance has been replaced by a sense of respect towards fellow human beings. If I used to think I know a lot about the way this world works and how people are, I now know that I know very little about this amazing world which is full of incredible people.

How am I still the same person?

I still have a lot of fun in my everyday life, still wait for Mondays, still work on weekends (though it was never work to me), still take off spontaneously to go for a vacation or to give a surprise visit to friends and family in Delhi. I still break rules and norms and do things the way I want to do them. I still succeed sometimes, fail other times. You can say that my failures have not reduced but my disappointments have, my results might not have improved but my upsets have gone down, and that I might not have grown wiser, but I am less foolish now 😉

Had to ride 20km off-road to reach here :)

Had to ride 20km off-road to reach here

Life has taught me a lot in these last six years, and it has not been easy either. I can’t erase the memories of my mom undergoing cancer surgery and chemotherapy three times in the last seven years, can’t take back the harsh words I have said to a few people and can’t undo the many mistakes I have made. But who said it was supposed to be smooth? At the same time, I also can’t forget the tremendous excitement when we created SaleRaja, will always miss the amazing fun I had in my first year of work, and can’t thank the 14 people of the 99acres team who made me discover a new side of myself in that one year when I led them.  In a nutshell, life has not been a cakewalk, but if you would ask me “Was it worth it?”, I would say “TOTALLY”!!!

I don’t know if this is pretty much the difference between every 27 year old and a 21 year old, but this has been my story.