Winds of Change

Last month old friends from IIT Kanpur visited us, we affectionately call them aunt and uncle. We talked about old times, good times, bad times and just times. We discussed about everything on earth including and not limited to honesty, hard work, loyalty, traffic sense, sense in general, and eventually politics. As we had multiple stints in multiple countries, and she being a concerned citizen, aunt asked me on how we can improve situation in India and if we can ever see an India completely developed in all aspects. She wondered if it would help if all the “good” Indians all over the world returned to India (of course, after learning the best practices from other countries) and implanted those best practices in India.

I may have offended her as I swiftly replied in negative. I did not stop at that. I offered my 2 cents (or 2 paise) free of cost as if I am an authority on this subject (of course, it is very easy to feel that one is an authority on any subject without actually knowing anything about that subject – that is the power of imagination). It is very easy to express an opinion if it does not directly impact you (no wonder we have zillions of people who can give free advice on any subject at a drop of a hat or even without the hat being dropped).

I opined that all the rules and regulations are in place and a bunch of “phoren” returned tags would not help the situation. What we need is a grass root fundamental change. People have to change. They need to understand that giving 100 rupees to a police constable to look the other way will not help, however good the traffic rules are. Things would dramatically improve if they stop paying the 100 rupees and are willing to bear the consequences. Do we need a bunch of “neither here nor there” (na ghar kaa naa ghaat ka) people for this? Do we need this bunch to make people understand that they need to use their brains (and not their pockets) to elect good leaders (to have good governance)? I don’t think so.

My wife however has a different take on my first statement (that the rules and regulations are already in place). She thinks that the rules and regulations are outdated and needs massive overhauling. First and fore most, she opines, there should be a legislation mandating minimum education for any one wanting to contest in elections. She thinks that the good work done by the very few well qualified politicians is hugely undone by the uneducated majority.

Both of us wondered why there is severe scrutiny when one applies for a clerk post in a small office, where as there is no background verification for election contestants aspiring to be MLAs, MPs and even CMs and PMs. No wonder some good citizens think that the minimum qualification for a politician is to be a goonda (ruffian). May be we are not good citizens as we want constitution changed to ban people with criminal records from contesting for public offices.

Coming back to my speech to my aunt, I concluded saying that youth needs to take an active role and they are the key to change. I added that the change is already happening and it is a matter of time before things improve and that it is a slow process and can take a couple of generations. Coincidentally, Srisri’s 1964 song “undile manchi kaalam mundu mundunaa” (there are good times ahead) was playing in the background (or was it again the power of my imagination?).