With the arrival of the Radia tapes and the Wikileaks cables in the media scene, the media rally against the several scams in our country has lost a bit of steam. The news has become stale DOES NOT mean things have changed for the better, or changed at all for that matter. We're still living in the ugliest of societies where corruption and nepotism are a part and parcel of the everyday life of the common man. There is a monologue by Upendra in his latest movie ('Super' for those who call it that) that points out exactly this. I totally empathise with what he had to say in that monologue (Yes, I'm indirectly urging you to watch the movie). Why are we living in such debilitating conditions? Worse, why are we getting accustomed to it? I try to answer this with a story.
Currently, India ranks second with 155 million obese people and is poised to take the top spot in ten years time. No wonder so many gyms are coming up everyday. My story is in one of those gyms that I used to go to. There was this guy who was about my age, but over three times my size who also was a regular (yeah right!) member. Understandably, he was there on a mission to reduce his weight. He had the right intention. He had the resources and the time to come to the gym everyday. His brain was all for it. But unfortunately, his body wasn't. No matter how hard he tries to motivate himself to go through with the daily routine in the gym (this is his brain working), his body doesn't co-operate. This being the state of affairs, an equilibrium has been reached. His body co-operates with his brain on a couple of days while he just stays home and skips the gym for the rest of the week. If I now tell you that he hasn't managed to lose more than a kilo or two over a year, will you be surprised? I think not!
Now, our executive system is in a similar state of affairs. Manmohan Singh is like my acquaintance's brain. He's honest and wants to do the right thing for the citizens of India (this is the popular opinion in the media, of course). The rest of the cabinet is like my acquaintance's body. When it doesn't surprise you to know that one million gym-going obese people fail to reach their solitary goal even though they're blessed with all the needed resources, why does it surprise you when one more such obese person (a.k.a the UPA-II government) fails to reach its goals?
Therein lies the problem. Nearly every person in our country is like my overweight acquaintance. They all know what the problem is. They all know what needs to be done to overcome it. Yet, they cannot get themselves to play their part. The percentage of ideal (read absolutely non-corrupt) politicians in our country is equal to the percentage of the population that tries to do its bit to keep the country clean (literally and metaphorically). You know who needs to change. You also know who not to vote for next election. Do your bit to keep the country clean. Take control!
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