Hazare khwaishen aisi!

There have been a surfeit of columns branding the Lok Pal committee as anti-democratic as it will be peopled by civil activists other than our elected leaders; that the movement had been fed and fuelled by “Left” sympathisers as if they were to be avoided like plague; that it had gained momentum following the West Asia crisis or revolution (depending on the side of coin you wish to see); that Anna Hazare had to be blamed for having blackmailed the government into setting up such a watchdog as it will comprise civilians apart from elected politicians. One column said Mahatma Gandhi used Satyagraha to humble the despotic/autocratic colonial rule, and Anna Hazare should not have approached our democratically elected government with this approach.
The movement has indeed inspired the tweeting-texting middle class Indians to rally behind Hazare, apart from the Bollywood brigade. I choose to toss the Bollywood support out of the multiplex’ revolving glass doors because I do not think I want to take their multiple roles too seriously. They are certainly not our role models; they can remain in the reels.
Columnists have doled out solutions like cleaning up our system; the fact is we have three democratic sensors: the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary, and a fourth conscientious one: the Press. We have seen how our Parliament and Assemblies function. Chairs are hurled, paper rockets fly across; ministers almost come to blows, and finally, wad of notes makes a mockery of the electoral process. Precious work hours are lost, and policy decisions take a back seat. The less said the better about the media screaming for attention with its innovative (read business savvy) ways of catching the eyeballs. So when Hazare went on fast, the channels began an SMS campaign. The great Indian middle class fell into the trap, hook, line and sinker, texting messages of solidarity from their touch screen mobiles or newly-acquired i-pads. The biggest gainers were the mobile service providers and the news channels, who share the spoils of the message revenue. The immaturity of the India electronic media is so stark; we have news anchors spilling out emotions, rather than acting objectively.
In India, a cleaning up of a system has not been possible so far. We have stepped into the sixth decade, and the system only stinks. The income gaps have widened, corporate-politician nexus has strengthened; elections have become an over-the-counter service with take television sets/sarees and stamp on symbol in return; poll alliances have become a joke, making strange bedfellows and sleeping partners. No one seems to be awake in this system, except a few consciences in the judiciary; I repeat only a few of them. Everything and everyone is up for sale, up for grabs..from the traffic policemen to those in the portals of power.
We needed this mass hysteria to at least shake off the lethargy, and transform drawing room frustrations into candle light vigils. Anna Hazare did not do this to end corruption; he merely stirred us out of our slumber, or of helplessness.
India is a land of icon-lovers. We need an icon to worship and that explains why we have made our cricket players and filmstars gods. That explains the statue culture or statue diplomacy of our politicians, whether it is a Mayawati or a Shivaji, a Netaji or a Basava. Or the cut-out culture of the south, where endless litres of milk are poured on the larger-than-life canvas images of Rajnikath.
Then why is a Tamil filmstar, whether it is MGR or Rajnikanth, elevated to that super-human status by their supporters, despite growing under the shadow of an iconoclast like Periyar of the Dravidian movement? The reason is simple: we Indians cutting across linguistic state boundaries are used to worshipping an entity. So when Periyar destroyed the idea of idol-worship, they resorted to worshipping human beings, elevating them to the status of Gods.
Let us admit, we Indians are yet to mature into a powerful democratic force powered by intellectual exposure. We are immature, illiterate, in awe of public figures, and therefore, needed an Anna Hazare as our conscience-keeper to tell us not to take corruption lying down.
Hazare only won a minor skirmish for us. The war still remains to be fought.

Blue bleeding the tax-payers?

The euphoric last ball six will be MS Dhoni’s most beautiful return gift for all the adulation his countrymen and women have given him, sealing once and for all the cruel memory of Javed Miandad’s last-ball six off Chetan Sharma at Sharjah. My sister had snapped ties with me for 24 hours that Friday because I had predicted Miandad would hit big.
Back to World Cup 2011, 48 hours have lapsed, and the booze has lost its fizz, the media has finished interviewing anyone and everyone within the champions’ radar: friends, relatives, temple priests, astrologers, gardeners, maids and drivers. The news pages and channels have gone berserk with the celebration blitzkrieg, with champagne and rewards raining heavily on willing players’ heads. The moment the ecstatic men in blue touched the Cup, the BCCI promised a few more crores into the players’ kitty. What has followed is a tsunami of rewards by the not-to-be-left-behind governments (Centre and state) that is going to leave the middle class tax-payers devastated. And this is not a silly point, mind you.
The players are anyway on a fascinating financial wicket, with more bounce added to those gorgeous millions, apart from the ICC’s 13.8 crore prize money and the BCCI monetary gift to each of the champions. Fair enough! BCCI is a cricket board, after all.
Take a look at the unrestrictive, commercial power-play: just imagine the brand endorsements these players indulge in. No problems. They are celebrities and have earned this position. So apart from the cola they push (that has incidentally also taught them to change the gentleman’s game and go for the upar cuts and pallu-helicopter shots against opponents), these players are asking us to watch Sony television, use Karbon mobiles, wear reebok gear, apply male fairness cream, fill car tanks with Speed fuel and insure ourselves with Aviva, to name a few. This is taking care of adding more millions into their large piggy bank.
Now the “men and women in white” have stepped in to distribute the largesse in cash and kind. First, the Delhi government’s Sheila Dikshit offered cash rewards. Mamata Banerjee announced free railway passes to the champions. She had the time to make such announcements despite the elections in West Bengal. She anyway need not write fresh hate-Left speeches; even Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya knows it by heart. Bangalore’s Yeddyurappa government quickly announced plots of land for the players. Soon, other the state governments followed suit, and will follow suit with their cricket charity.
Why? Why is it that governments are joining this bandwagon when their respective states are in a shambles? Corruption has failed to become an election issue because it seems to have become an accepted or even an acceptable fact. Governance remains a fancy democratic term. Why are the men in white so unaffected by the country, infected by the dangerous bugs of illiteracy, inflation, unemployment and poverty? Why do our men in white choose to drive past hungry shanties in their white convoys? Why do our men in white want to use tax payers’ money to fill the over-flowing coffers of the men in blue?
So the ICC pays them, BCCI pays them, corporates pay them, sponsors pay them, bookies pays them (I couldn't resist this temptation). Then why are the tax payers being wrung out to carry coal to New Castle (to use a cliché)?