yet Annather rant!

This recent uprising against corruption is a very interesting phenomenon.There are both positives and negatives from the movement, its good that middle class in India is able to unite and protest against what is clearly a callous government, it is also sad that they are doing this only in this forum and not during the time it really matters like during elections.

I personally disagree with this method of holding gun to government/Parliament and threatening that fulfill whatever I tell you or else …

How different is this from Naxals or terrorists ? Why do we shun them while we welcome this? If you see in Kashmir Valley there is a considerable anti-India feeling among large sections of society as shown by recent stone throwing incidents. So if tomorrow say Geelani decides to hold a fast unto death unless separate nation is created and 4000 people hold peaceful candle march in Srinagar will media also play along and Parliament pass the resolution?

This drafting resolutions/bills and giving instant deadlines is what makes me keep my distance from this, holding marches and asking Govt to properly consider alternatives would have been the right way, but it is not dramatic enough and perhaps the Govt also may not have paid heed too!

Another thing I can’t understand is how do they expect to create a super efficient lokpal which will monitor corruption in higher and lower levels of bureaucracy?

If it’s a super body which monitors corruption at higher level – like scams etc then can understand, but if it has to monitor corruption at district/ town level then u need a mammoth force and the amount of money to be spent would be huge and if u create such a huge body then u would also have a task of appointing several thousands of ‘honest’ people to run the body. According to this article the cost of such a lokpal would be counter productive to progress of nation.

Is this practical? Do we really think it will happen this way?

This is not to say Anna is bad or that he is a naive man getting manipulated by a set of shrewd people as some critics seem to point out. He has done us all a favor by bringing these topics into limelight and encouraging debates and giving hope that something would transpire from all this. Last Saturday thanks to Anna's efforts everywhere people were following Parliament debate live on TV! There was a lot of interest in social media on the debates and country as a whole seemed clued in this time on a key issue instead of apathy usually displayed by middle class.

He has ensured that middle class who do not bother with the nation and policies etc get united and question what is happening which is very commendable. I would like this movement or whatever it is to play the role of a proper Opposition and question the wasteful policies and mismanagement done by Govt which would bring benefit rather than oppose corruption through some super power body.

It would be interesting to see if the millions who sported the badges, walked on streets, gave missed calls, sent self righteous smses and put up facebook updates etc would actually walk the talk and shun corruption going forward.

Tomorrow if they get stopped by traffic cop for some violation will they pay the actual amount or will they give Rs50 to the guy to let them off? If they are purchasing property will these anti-corruption messiahs pay the full amount in white and not quote a reduced price to evade duty/tax? Even if it sets them back by a lac or so?

Which brings me to why we are doing the above mentioned acts? Is it because there are set of 'bad' people who take bribes and need to be weeded out or because of illogical rules and lax regulation that corruption is able to thrive? Should we not look at why things are like this instead of just jumping up one fine day to say stop all corruption?

A rather harsh, but perhaps correct view would be that the whole country is running because of corruption …. If im buying a property/vehicle, I might need to get a couple of approvals which could take time normally but the agent collects 2-3K from me and hands to these guys and without wasting my time I get all the papers signed.

If we stop this from happening, how will it affect me? If I decide not to bribe, the govt officer probably has no incentive to attend to me quickly I might have to spend a day waiting for his approvals in his office which means loss of productivity for me and no gain for him too – loss loss finally! This is not to say that corruption needs to continue, but just to emphasize the point that 'Lokpal' is not the one shot cure for all evils plaguing the country and will not transform us dramatically as most people seem to believe. Maybe what we need is more transparency and methods to make the current system work effectively rather than another policeman, but that is a much tougher route to take though.

the Aftermath

The defence of the 'Crown' was half hearted, more than knowledge of conditions our past reputation and self belief were to be the main weapons ... but once the leader of bowling attack limped out in the first session, things started going downhill. After two heavy defeats suddenly our talismanic leader was under attack, in the third test he responded with a couple of gutsy knocks. I noticed a tweet at the end of the test saying "finally India's captain showed up but sadly the rest of the team didnt" as we hurtled towards yet another heavy defeat.

More than defeat, the way we folded with minimal fight has led to a lot of talk. Perhaps some of the criticism is justified, we have done poorly no denying that, but the expectations were very high. Lot of the hype was created by media of course, but when a team is ranked no:1 in the world you do expect them to win more often than not. But again we all knew England was no pushover, beating Australia home and away is a feat unmatched in last few decades and add home advantage plus players peaking at right time. It made all the difference compared to India's unsettled lineup which was hampered by players not adapting , untimely injuries(we need to remember tht we played first two tests with just 3 bowlers) and sheer bad luck. Curiously some time back people were questioning the whole world no:1 thing saying the system was not proper. But suddenly in this series the whole world seems to think the ranking is all that matters and India is pilloried for doing injustice to world no:1 billing!

This is not a post aimed at criticizing Indian team nor justifying their capitulation. There are enough number of articles/people doing that. What captured my interest was the reaction of public to this, people of facebook, twitter, friends I keep in touch, colleagues in office and any random conversation I happen to hear in office cafeteria or while travelling to work.

Everyone is disgusted with the team and some swear not to follow cricket anymore, but quickly check the score at start of Indian batting to see if Viru might return with a bang! Everyone is clear on what is wrong, in fact a few days back I heard a lot of conversations questioning Dhoni's leadership ability and whether he merits a place in test team. This is a man who had never lost a test series before this tour and has the best track record for an Indian skipper and only one in a long time who seemed to be handling captaincy without letting it affect his batting. I dont think I need to waste any time pointing out his numerous successes but just how fickle is public memory! Just 3 months back when Dhoni smashed a six to seal the world cup people were cheering wildly, sporting "Bleed Blue" buttons and proclaiming from rooptops that we are champions and this is the best Indian team ever. But the moment they lose some matches people turn their back and start attacking the same guys. Again I'm not saying winning World cup means they dont need to win anything henceforth. But such drastic reactions are totaly unwarranted, media seems to be playing an active role in this with extremely critical articles in which reporters get very judgmental and sometimes seem to be worse than your average cricket fan. Also the opinions carried of former cricketers also fuel the fire with every 'expert' condemning team, so cant really blame the man on the street who thinks Dhoni lacks 'dynamism' as captain and needs to be replaced! Everyone has quick fix solutions and their own diagnosis of the problem. Funny thing is most of the problems noticed were there in the team for a long time now, with these very problems we became world no:1!

Its really strange, as a nation we go through life with zero accountability from all authorities and we hardly seem to care about the corruption, bad roads, poor administration and what not, but somehow demand total accountability from cricketers!