Anna Hazare has been voted as the Person of the Year / The Indian of the Year by many news channels and newspapers recently. Even international press has noted him as one of the top news makers of the world in 2011. And why not? After all, this 74 year old Gandhian has changed the way Indians look at corruption and given all of us hope that this disease can be removed from our country. As I wrote in a poem, he has come as our Messenger of Hope in 2011.

Below are what I feel are the top 5 take-aways from this movement so far -

1. Strengthening of Democracy

Anna Hazare has spend all his life promoting the decentralization of power in democracy and his asking for a Lokpal, free of any government control, is another step in this direction. By directly involving the people in his protests, and highlighting the point that the people are the real masters and the politicians only public servants elected by them, he has made it clear that they should proceed in accordance of the will of the public.

He and his team have taken the issue of Lokpal to the people in small… Read the rest

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.

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… Read the rest

There is no hiding the fact that corruption is prevalent everywhere in India, with babus, bureaucrats and politicians sitting at the top of the list of ‘most corrupt people‘. Corruption has become the elephant in the room, which everybody knows you have to face at every walk of life, but nobody wants to discuss it or stand for a solution. We have to pay bribes to get your birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate and everything that comes in between.

I guess corruption seeped into our social fabric during the pre-1991 era when Nehruvian methods were followed and every big industry was a public sector company. State Bank of India, Bhel, LIC, BSNL, Indian Oil, NTPC and ONGC became the companies where everybody wanted a job, for it provided job security and ‘under the table‘ earning options too. People working in these companies formed the Indian middle class during the pre-liberalization era.

But after the economic reforms of 1991, competition opened up and many foreign companies set up shop in India. It also led to the emergence of the service economy with the booming of the BPO and IT sectors. A lot of youngsters started earning handsome salaries and… Read the rest

We are the largest democracy,
With proud we proclaim this fact!
Our economic growth is big news,
As is the huge investments we attract!!

I absolutely love my country,
As it never fails to amaze me!
At times both tragic and amusing,
Its stories are nothing less than filmy!!

We can vote at age eighteen,
And elect our representative!
Yet we can’t drink below age 25,
Who can explain this law’s motive??

We have the right to free speech,
But isn’t it a grave misconception!
As public order, and even morality,
Can be grounds for police action!!

Among one of the basic human rights,
Is the right to peaceful & free assembly!
But the arbitrary use of Section 144,
Shows the government wants to be bossy!!

Millions go without food daily,
How can anyone miss the contrast?
When the govt. ignores the hungry,
And denies Anna the permission to fast !!

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Missile technology has underwent great progress over the last half a century. We have supersonic missiles, missiles which can be launched from sea, air or land, intercontinental ballistic missiles and missiles which can launch nuclear warheads too. But if the delivery system of a missile fails, even the best missile is just a crap of steel, doesn’t serve its purpose, and can be dangerous to the party it was supposed to benefit.

Similarly, we might have the best government driven by the best constitution which was drafted by BR Ambedkar and other such eminent people, but if the delivery system fails, all that becomes a bunch of people sitting in large buildings creating a lot of waste, which defeats the original purpose of having a government and constitution. Most would agree that democracy has failed us, but it is important to know how much?

Most of our government departments are plagued by inefficiency and unaccountability. There is no transparency in the process and babus misuse their privileges giving rise to corruption. Election process is easily rigged by political parties who often give money or freebies for votes. Poor people, instead of seeing… Read the rest