Wednesday, August 24, 2011

corruption n me...!


Blogging on th Moleskin iPad app, love the super expensive Moleskin notebooks, this is not bad either.

Have been forced to watch the Anna Hazare protest as am home n he is fav of my mum, and since it will have long lasting effects am kind of pressured to talk about it. Anyways...

Corruption is of two kinds, one where u want to get something done illegaly, or done as per ur terms, could be faster, easier, more conviniently or sth. For eg, when u get caught on ur bike without papers n pay a bribe to get off...or when u go to a mandir n pay some agent to get u 'special, up close n personal' darshan with God. So this is really corruption seeded by you and Janlokpal bill doesn't do anything to tackle this.

The second is when you want a bribe just to get sth done, not faster, not easier...just get it done. You know, greasing the palms kinds where a govt official (and I refuse to call them public servants, its just to degrading) asks for money to get you ur IT returns money...that kinds.

So first i think the concept of corruption started with the first way, and secondly, i don't think there is a pure no 2 category ever. Its always u get some money, I get this done faster.

Justifications for 1 are many...1.2 billion people, there is a queue everywhere, if i have money n get better service, whats wrong with that, rules are general, and archaic, they shouldnt apply to me and so on...well true, but really look inside urself and u'll realize, mostly its just for convinience, for taking the easy route out that you bribe. I haven't changed my enfields number to match the registration no, its my laziness, but the excuse i make is that the system gave me the wrong number in the first place...well so it did, system comes out of you!

I believe tackling 1 is more important then 2, because that is the foundation, if no one wants to give a bribe, lega kaun, and then you will have a justification for protesting. Today, all of these protests are just seem very .... You give bribes on one hand...and will keep on doing so but on other hand want to prosecute those who take them, and frankly, they, the bribe takers have more of a justification for taking bribes...they, the so called 'public servants' earn very little for the service they give you. A police commisionare, after a life time spent to be where he is, a life full of mortal risks and living scared, gets 1\3 of what i do after just 4 years of a party life. They take more crucial decisions, life is far more difficult and requires more hard work, then why. And so is it wrong if they make a bit on the side...it is, but its seems more acceptable then u paying a bribe on being caught for drunk driving, doesnt it?

So my point, instead of persecuting those who take bribes, teach Indians to earn their living. Teach us that its not ok to take the easy way out, jugaad is not justified. And yes, prosecute all those who do these multi thousnd crore scams.. There is not justification for thats, its just pure greed.

The Janlokpal bill will help ofcourse, but its not a solution to everything. It might ensure that big time scams reduce over a period of time, but it is not something which will bring down corruption organically, but more by force, and whether that will last is a question.

And my disliking for mr Anna Hazare...well he is gandhi like, and dont get me wrong, i am a big admirer of Gandhi, my issue is with marketing...more n more, the protest looks like a giant marketing effort, and the problem with that is the susbstance gets lost in the gloss...the common man, who really is a follower just goes where the loudest loudspeaker is...not really caring about what aspect of corruption if any are they blaring about. And frankly, the support being shown is really a support against corruption n not for Anna. He is just riding the wave, hopefully as this economist story points out, we don't end up changing our constituion without enough debate because of this farce of a protest. Another major issue is i dont like anyone who armtwists anyone, and that is what this protest has become, our way or no way...hate that, even if its with the govt. And frankly, I appreciate our govt, media gives their 20% bad work 80% attention, but misses out on the 80% work which has ensured this country is atleast governed, badly maybe but not an anarchy still!
And why should his bill not go through the constitutional processes, if he thinks they are inadequate, change the processes, don't circumvent them. And i really dont agree with the argument that he has support, well people dont know, they are against corruption, and Anna is just a medium, they are not really with Anna. There is a line in the American President, something about people in a desert drinking sand because they dont know the difference between water n sand, and thats true but also because all they are getting is sand!

Everyone should have a viewpoint, everyone has the right to propogate that viewpoint, we have enough processes to ensure the viewpoints are heard n debated n the best chosen, just put the bill in front of the standing comittee n let them do their job!

Bad handling by the govt, but lets not make the country suffer because of that...!

PS: no spell check in Moleskin app, like the notebook..:)
already a long post but some more...

I think a good alternative to bribing is tipping...there is subtle but big different, bribe is giving money upfront to ensure a good service, tip is giving after the fact, to reward a good service. 
an anecdote that has happened twice and i have been relating over the past week...got caught without papers twice. Both time it was more on technicality really, once the PUC certificate had expired by a week, second time the number on my enfield was diff then on the RC book...anyways so I knew am wrong in letter, but not really in spirit...so argued that. The two cops (a young arrogant one who does the dirty work, and an older guy who stands as the moral authority always) wouldn't even hear me out. First they pretended they didn't know English or Hindi, then would just keep on walking about as soon as i would start explaining. After 5 mins became very apparent they wanted bribes... problem is that i decided on both occasions i won't give money, and so the stand off continued. It takes about 15 - 30 mins of silence on both sides for them to relent, finally they let you go, and this time they did. I on my part always make sure that i kind of shake hands with them with a very cheeky grin on my face, and tell them 'thankyou, right thing you did' kinds. always. 
anyways, lots of 'points' i can make out of this, but ur bored, so shall spare you. 

laters...

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