Jantar Mantar

As a child when I read about this place in Delhi,I had a peculiar feeling. The picture of this structure was strange,and my young mind imagine in numerous mystery spot.Today I see a seventy year old man,named Anna Hazare holding a fast unto death dharna there,so that the Jan Lok Pal bill has more teeth and is passed in the Lok Sabha.

I am no Gandhian. But after so many years,I do believe that his dharna are a very effective way. Our unscrupulous netas have turned this dharna into a very effective weapon of mass destruction.And since I am from Bengal,I have been a victim of this weapon on more than one occasion. But today I was amazed to see that dharna has jolted that insensitive Government.

We are a country that runs on 'jugaad'. Hence it's very to easy to understand why corruption has become a part of everyday life. Life here is series of quick fixes. Vehicle caught by the police,pay some extra buck and get it back. Passport delivery will be delayed,pay some extra money and get it done. Taking and paying bribe are not seen as immoral here India,rather it's the unwritten rules.

Today we might rejoice that people have won the round 1 against the government. But what the scamsters did was the logical extension of what we do and follow every day in our lives. The police,the traffic police,the Government babu asks for bribe,because we pay. Can we stop paying them? The answer ain't simple.If I stop paying there shall be ten others who will are willing to pay that extra amount to get their work done.

Hence all these hoopla surrounding the bill will be short lived,if we do not follow it up. I wonder why we are called an young nation? We needed an eighty year old to make us realise that we as a nation and society are impotent. And then we needed a seventy year old person to make us realise that we as a society are not impotent.

So what's the solution. I guess we all know the solution,but are we ready to implement those? Where the urge to make a quick buck is so pressing,where thinking beyond oneself is almost impossible,where quick fix and 'jugaad' is a way of life,can we? After all as I said the scamsters are nothing but just a logical and bigger extension of what we do in our daily life.