India Shinning Yet?

With the summer heat peaking in May, 5 states in India will have State legislative elections. This will be the 5 year immunity for many parties and Chief Ministers. It is going to be a busy time for the Media, both print and digital covering the events as they unroll and unfold. Well this change in government will be no less exciting. More cases will be foisted on the candidates who lose the election and he/she will be made to enjoy the time behind the brick walls and iron doors. There other power hungry species start amassing wealth through bribes and other perks in the political world. Do we call this retribution of justice?

Today’s edition of Hindu talks about Viako, the leader of MDMK party joining hands with his bitter rival, who imprisoned him 3 years back under POTA act. The scars of the imprisonment have not healed but the bitter rivals are toasting over the new found friendship and alliance. It makes me wonder if these alliances are nothing less than a one night stand. The same fellow had accused the opposition party leader for foisting cases and making an attempt on his life. When it comes to elections these party leaders are no less than prostitutes who sell their flesh. Well on the contrary it could be that these guys are so spiritually evolved that they forgive their enemies so soon. This is a point to ponder, let us not discount this. If these alliances would bring more good to people then I would not care about who is shaking hands with whom and who is going to bed together. But in reality this is all about who is getting how much from the treasury.

I wonder the fate of the people who put these governments in place? If these people can forget longstanding enmity overnight, why would they not forget the promises that they made to come to power? How many elections have gone by? How many patriotic speeches have we heard? How many times have we been fooled by politicians? Why is India still the same in the clutches of poverty, poor infrastructure, low literacy rate, high infant mortality? It makes me wonder will there ever be redemption for this country?

Economically, the country is doing well. Foreign investments are flowing into the country, software and manufacturing sector doing extremely well, and MNC’s betting on India brains and talent. The country has never been so attractive before. This is the purview at the macroscopic level. When you get to the microscopic level, then the country is despicable. Education and medical care is out of reach for many Indians. If you think medical care is a luxury, then what about availability of basic needs? Unable to cater to basic the needs like proper housing, food, potable water poor infrastructure. We still have many mouths to feed, to quench thirst and to cover. At one end of the spectrum we have the educated class who drive around in foreign cars and own lavishly furnished apartments and have multiple demat accounts to trade in the market. At the other end we have people who can barely afford a bicycle, a pair of footwear, never had a bank account and to have a leak-proof roof is a luxury. Well the contrast is so vividly pallid. The rich seems to get richer and the poor tries to maintain his economic status, if not go further down.

In the name of servicing the poor, making their voices heard in the Parliament, the scramble for electoral vote and support begins and ends with elections. If the country and state is run like a corporation or a business entity there will a lot of progress. There is no accountability and there are no KRA’s and measurable parameters to keep the system healthy and productive. Strangely this profession needs no qualification, and even thugs and criminals get the seat and run the state. It is sad that professional and political ethics never existed in the profession. This is the country that had great thinkers and political reformist like Chanakya. His arthasastra seems to have no “artha” in today’s changing times.

We have read about all this and we have written odes on India political system. But there seems no change in the horizon. We would need a Karl Marx kind of a revolutionist to bring about such radical change in a mass scale. Is this person referred to “Kalki” avathar by the Hindus.

Sadly the land with the 2nd largest population in the world, and a home for 26 languages, 4 major religions has failed to create species with proper ethics and moral conduct. The country that produced Chanakya, Adi Shankara, Aryabhatta is now churning out these mutated species called “Politicians”. The politicians have cleverly used the religion veil to divide people, get their votes, but when it comes to servicing them they conveniently fail to acknowledge the duties of the religious sect. Conscience seems to be lost somewhere in the race or may be religions have failed to acknowledge the self in the individual.

Visits by foreign delegation, representation at the UN Security Council, investments by foreign banks and governments cannot change the fate of India. We Indians must learn to act with responsibility, treat our fellow humans with respect, and conduct ourselves morally and ethically at all times. It is our duty to speak up before and after elections. The clock doesn’t stop ticking when the ballot boxes are emptied. Speak up and remind the politicians who seem to suffer from perennial idiopathic amnesia, if not let them walk over you and India will ever be the land of sadhu’s, flith and snake charmers.