• Corruption in India & Anna Hazare - A hero or a.........? Is He God or Gandhi? From a Different poinview.

Everyone wants to be on news these days. No matter what way you choose for that. In Hinduism people worship God in temples in form of statues. In Islam they worship Allah and Christians worship Christ. But now the time has come when innocent people of India have quit worshiping their Lords and started worshiping “Humans” making temples for those Humans. Religiously or logically, does it seem right to you? Just think!

Anna Hazare

In a country like India there are hundreds and thousands of problems and issues to be criticized and discussed in public. On the other hand, you might have very serious problems and issues in your own life to be discussed with your parents, your teachers or your spouse. Do you really think that shouting anti-corruption slogans in a messy crowd is more important for you than polishing your own life? Think about it!

In a democratic country like India we do have other major issues that connect the humanity with the brutality such as killing girl child, women rights, women education, superstitions, illiteracy, unemployment, poverty, starvation, etc. Here are some statistics to pass on this feel to you how important it is to really think about the above stated real issues than jumping in a rally in front of a “great old man”.

Pupils at a school

India estimated to have a third of the world’s poor. According to 2005 world bank estimate, 41.6% of the total Indian population falls below the international poverty line of US $ 1.25 a day or Rs 21.6 a day in urban areas and Rs 14.3 in rural areas. In India, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, etc are among the states with very high proportion of poor which is 77 %, 71.9 %, 69.9 %, 64 %, 69.5 %, 58.3 %, 64.2 %, 44.7 % respectively. Causes of poverty can be many. If the above statistics were not good enough to stun you then I have something else for you. More than 17,500 farmers killed themselves between 2002 and 2006 according to government of India’s statistics which included major suicides in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Punjab. In 2006, the state of Maharashtra, with 4,453 farmers’ suicides accounted for over a quarter of the all-India total of 17,060, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).  According to government data, over 5,000 farmers committed suicide in 2005-2009 in Maharashtra, while 1,313 cases reported by Andhra Pradesh between 2005 and 2007. In Karnataka the number stood at 1,003, since 2005-06 till August 2009. In the last four years, cases in Kerala were about 905, Gujarat 387, Punjab 75 and Tamil Nadu 26. In April 2009, the state of Chhattisgarh reported 1,500 farmers committed suicide due to debt and crop failure.  At least 17,368 Indian farmers killed themselves in 2009, the worst figure for farm suicides in six years, according to data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The reason for their suicide should have been very obvious, you all are mature enough to guess it, that’s poverty & starvation. After reading above statistics, our immediate reaction would be criticizing the government. Of course, you can criticize the government as much and as long as you wish because that is the most enjoyable advantage of democracy. But, we need to act beyond just thinking, criticizing and discussing with friends and family members in leisure moments.

Poor-Indian-Kids

             

You might be thinking about what is the relation between Jumping in Ramlila Maidan and the statistics I showed above. Yes, there is a relation, a very direct relation. You might have spared your hours, days or maybe weeks shouting in Ramlila Maidan or in your own town in rallies or just sitting in front of television watching news-biting nails. You might have wasted a few to lot money for that wonderful, God-inspiring act at Ramlila. You might have admired a few “old men” for their self-picked starvation. Is that all you could do to show your love to your country? Do we really know what was really happening at Ramlila? There are thousands who daily live with “natural-fasting” without a stage, without mikes and loud speakers, without media people around them. And most interesting thing is no one appeals to them to break their fasting. God! that’s damn logical to the educated creatures like us. Supporting Anna is not supporting non-corruption and if I don’t support Anna doesn’t mean that I encourage corruption. Think about this!

Symbol of Superstitions in India

I ‘guess’ that the drama was for passing the Janlokpal Bill in the parliament. Do you really think that the citizens of India will start experiencing the positive effects of this bill? All the corrupted creatures will be behind the bars? The answer is a big “NO”. You won’t even expect it, if you are wise enough. You and I are very angry at Raja, Kalmadi, Karunanaidhi or anyone who is involved in scams or a handsome son-in-law of our nation-Kasab-, but can we reach them out and slap them for what wrong they have done? No, hell no.  We can’t.

Then what else we can do to pour our overflowing love for our country. We can reach out the real needy. We can reach out real illiterates and educate them. We can reach out real hungry people and feed them. We can reach out real poor and help them. Why are we fighting for what is out of our reach which is less important than what we can reach out and contribute? Why? I guess if we help a poor or feed a hungry man or teach alphabets to an illiterate then we will not be on TV and news. We will not get all this attention which some innocent people were getting at Ramlila once upon a time. But we, you and I, really don’t need that. We don’t want others to know about what we are doing as long as we know that what we are doing is for a right cause. This will give us inner satisfaction and a reason to live for those needy. Of course this is not an easy task. But we can try. We will start with 0.001 % of “real” contribution and we will achieve 100 % of it. We don’t need a “crowd” or a “leader-with white cap”. We alone can do it. What I am trying to convey is already there in your hearts. Just pull it out. You don’t need an external pull, do it yourself. It’s all about you being happy!