The second freedom movement

There are many differences between the current anti-corruption agitation and India’s freedom struggle, at the same time there are certain important similarities. The freedom movement was primarily won by non-violence, yet many many lives were lost. I fervently hope that this movement does not have to lose lives before the goal is reached. The freedom movement was against a far more brutal government, but we have to concede that they were far more honest.

Gandhiji in those days had advised the congress to disband the party as that was only a tool intended for gaining independence and to set up new parties to fight elections, now we have Anna and team saying they won’t fight elections. The team around Gandhiji were the inheritors of his legacy, they did not disband the party, but used it to form the first government and started out in great earnest, the intent was to make India a proud nation, and we are glad they took up the responsibility, there are many achievements that we are truly grateful to those founding fathers. If only Nehru had not had the weakness of indulging in nepotism to make way for his daughter to get into the highest echelons of power, and start the downslide of the once great party.

The money and power that came with being in politics started to attract goons and thugs, resulting in good people moving away. It was a catch 22 situation, as someone wise once said, if good people refuse to take part in politics then we are condemned to be ruled by scoundrels. Studies of the wealth accumulated by politicians show that it is far more economically profitable to get into politics instead of being in business or working in almost any company in the country. They couldn’t do it without the support of a huge group of government employees, who got corrupted, some willingly and some helplessly. Yes, it is not always because they were dishonest to begin with that such a huge number of people became corrupt, it was because there was more punishment being meted out to the ones who were not willing to toe the line. They lost out to people who were corrupt on all fronts, and realized there was no way for them to get justice without undergoing severe hardships in the process of getting justice too. They had to adapt to the new social norm. They couldn’t beat it, so they slowly started to join in. Not that they were not aware that it wasn’t right, they hoped they did not have to be corrupt. They did not want their kids to see them as being corrupt. And although they were in it, they hoped it wasn’t for good.

When these people saw one man stand up and say enough and galvanize the whole country they realize that there is a possibility that they can have a corruption free (or minimal ) life they came out in support of this movement. One kept hearing the intelligentsia saying this is hypocrisy of the middle class. Sorry, this is the truth of human nature, when conditions are reasonable they are basically good, it is only when the system started to rot and it became the norm, that it started to slide down and quickly reached epidemic proportions.

At this juncture I hope that post Janlokpal there are clean new candidates that we can choose from for our next elections, given the popularity of the Anna team, it would be a good idea for them to get into politics, fight election and bring many more much needed reforms from the within the system. They have shown some weaknesses during these high stress days of being out there on the field, considering that it was in the face of such arrogance from the parliamentarians who are sitting comfortably in their houses, it is pardonable.

There are many more issues that are pending, there is Irom Sharmila on hunger strike for over a decade fighting against a brutal law in one part of the country, there is a retired school teacher somewhere going every other day to the pension office to get what is his due. And there are millions of people having to fight their own individual battles, no individual or group can take care of all these issues individually, a system that takes a firm stand is required. Behind almost all kinds of oppression there is some form of corruption. Corruption has been the single biggest cause of misery to the majority. The need of the hour is for having a strong lokpal bill, and only a clean honest government can really stand for it, one that is transparent and free from corruption. Yes, it is not just being jingoistic when u call this the second freedom movement.

Accident

I was watching the news report of the accident involving a van taking preschool kids falling into a canal in Thiruvananthapuram. The general view was that the accident happened because the driver was speeding! Come on give me a break! That road (there was a root of a tree that had pushed up the road), the people around there who will never give their precious bit of land to broaden the road, the PWD which wont bother to make it safer, they are the reason it happened.. the driver couldn't have done more than 60 KMPH on that road, well that is reckless driving on those roads, agreed. But why are the roads in Kerala so narrow, just look at the statistics, how many people died on the roads in one year inside Kerala? People drive regularly at 120 KMPH in developed countries, is it that the land is cheaper there to acquire for widening the roads? No, I don't think so, it is just that the cost of a human life is so much lesser here. If any one of those who refuses to part with land for widening the road to ensure safer travel can just evaluate the cost of the life of their child, brother, sister, mother, father.... will it be worth the money they save in not giving that bit of land? Mind you it is not that the land is to be given away freely, there is a certain amount of compensation that they get... it is just greed.

Calling it an accident and blaming the driver alone for it is only passing the buck which is all that ever gets done here. When the rulers in the entire country are only busy looting where would they have the time to look at a hundred people dying daily on an average. Our senses are jolted only when that someone happens to be personally known to us, else it becomes a detached news item. But as human beings can't we extrapolate to know that it could and will happen to you one day unless you correct the situation that causes it. One must not wait to react only after it happens to them.

The petty thief

Soori Kaimaadi was a petty pickpocket and got nabbed a few times and beaten up and not once was the loot more than a few hundred rupees. At great personal risk he continued to be a petty thief and marvelled at the incredible wealth there was available for looting and admired the courage of the politicians who looted so much more.

One particularly hungry morning he got caught by a particularly violent crowd who started thrashing him, and it dawned on him that he could try something totally new. He shouted out, "Stop that is enough." And he looked up hiding his fear and said shamelessly, "This is not all that I have looted, I have looted and stashed away more than a hundred crore rupees."

The crowd gasped, they had a knew respect for him, he was now a thief in the big league, a scamster! They promptly stepped aside for him to move ahead. As always when the size of robbery becomes big we have an inbuilt reverence for numbers that goes above our normal everyday usage. We forget that both are nothing more than thieves, the only difference is the amount, we allow it to happen and then there is no stopping after that...

A Poet's labour

Oh man! Have you forgotten to see, they said
there is more to achieve, and so little of life ahead
why bother about the flower or the buzzing bee
moments of beauty, fetches neither butter nor bread

While they get him his food, he can give only his art
he cant survive without them, yet he pays them no heed
eating could keep away death,
yet they would give him their soul, for he shows, why to live

His are the words that wakes them from sleep
it’s his song on their lips that gives them the joy
when the farmers sow and reap,
the wheat is gone with a meal, like an used old toy

Now for that something that came out of his mind
not shaped out by workers in crowded factories
what is it worth if it makes them feel alive,
for that handful of people across centuries

Ritual Wedding

She stood gazing at his strong trunk, the rain was beating down on them both. The wind that was blowing made her sway ever so slowly and she was brushing against him subtly with measured regularity.

She recollected the first time she had popped out from her secure home, and had seen him standing there out in the open exactly where he stood now, looking fresh and strong, although much leaner, standing tall, he had seemed unaffected by the sunlight while she was wilting in the heat on that day. How she had longed to reach out and touch him.

After all these years, she still remembered the first rituals of their marriage, the turmeric powder, the vermilion and the scent of the rose water that was sprayed on her was still fresh in her mind, the sound of the prayers and hymns recited by women in colourful sarees seemed to be hanging in the air to date.

On that day, she had no idea that she would have these rituals performed every year by couples who wanted to have a child. She enjoyed the faces kids made while plucking her leaves and chewing it. She never saw anyone plucking anything off him, although he was much bigger. When a saint who was sitting in his shade one day said that this Pipal tree was sacred, she felt so proud of him. Every few years a few couples brought their children to be blessed by them. She was happy just being his Neem tree, looking forward to their wedding once more.

The only choice

He sat looking at her eating her diet ice-cream, and thought to himself, good grief, he had clearly misunderstood when she said she worked for a government organization. Army intelligence is not exactly a government organization. How had he ended up here. Now, then when he thought about it, probably the fact that she was his friend’s sister and he met her at his house, he had stood watching her while she was listening to soft rock, working on some computer security, taking over her brother’s study and making it into a small office, working late into the night, wearing yellow coloured, tight pyjamas. On being introduced, she had looked up at him and smiled putting her hand out, saying that she was terribly pleased to meet him. That was what did it.

He had gone with his friend to their old watering hole, sat there eating peanuts that came in paper covers, and drinking from plastic glasses, they were celebrating his return from Srilanka after serving in the Indian peace force. Having seen the sweet sorrow of suffering, he wanted to be back to his extinct life as a news reporter. He wanted to go and cover the new India, the innovative ideas coming from unexpected quarters, developing new technology with advanced basics suiting rural conditions, ideas that were coming from every nook and corner of the country. He was sure he did not want to cover some political event, even if he would get to do some live recording of an upcoming honest politician making history during prime time. They sat discussing varied topics, and when the place shut they had gone over to his friends house and that’s when he met her, and all the memories came flooding back, in a moment of single thought that day, she had reminded him of his old love, so unlike him, it was the same difference that struck him, which he found missing today. Now she was sitting digging into her ice cream and reading some new classic, Now, then he felt she was acting natural and it was he who felt like a real imitation of his old self. When he told her he would be going off for a few weeks to the north east on a working vacation, without looking up she asked him if he could give an exact estimation of when he would be back, said she could then plan another assignment. He asked her if she would like to come too, and she said no. Once again, he had the feeling that a definite maybe from her would have been better than a clear no.

So many times he had wanted to know about her work, but she never allowed him to probe. Some times when he got within a close distance from knowing, he felt like he was dealing with a Microsoft tech support agent. He was finally tired of the uncertainty, he walked towards her feeling a calm storm within, and reaching her side he wanted to ask her why she treated him that way and instead asked her what was all that paper on her table, she looked up and told him that was the completed research work that she had been working on, and she had kept a detailed summary on his table so that he would know what she had worked on. All his thoughts seemed wrong, he had wanted to confront her and now having drawn a blank, he stood there wondering if it was a deliberate mistake, why had she been demanding patience all along only to so easily let him see what she worked on? He had no idea whether this was a common phenomenon with all women or was she unique, whether he was a perfect misfit and was this his only choice?

Crossroads

I see a road that's long and straight
As far as my sight allows, there is nothing bright,
There is another which is winding tight
To go on this would need all my wit and might.

The former needs a lot out of me
I'd have to change or let it be,
My senses tells me to take on this
for my mind has what it takes for this.

While my instinct asks that I take the turn
Ride along and enjoy the view,
The pleasure in it is worth the burn
Hold on, for my strength is true

Oh my mind, tell me, why are the crossroads here?
Wasn't I just smoothly sailing by,
Right in the middle of nowhere
forcing me to pause and wonder why.

There is but one choice today to make
For surely, the other is closed forever
Now to decide which one to take
Walk on one and the other is never.

The crossroads are here today
Standing onboard the scale of time
I can't now get out and wait
Yes finally whatever it is, the choice is mine.