Now where was I?

There are 3 most important things that Indians are famous (or rather infamous for)

• Love,
• Affection,
• Short term memory loss (STML)

STML, also called Amnesia is a disorder when a person tends to forget what he/she said, did, or saw a few days or months or even minutes ago. Something like Guy Pearce in Memento. Now you might think it sounds cool to be like Guy and that might even get you a chick like Carrie Ann Moss as your girl friend, but tell me, do you really want to watch your girl friend spitting in your mug of beer and you forget it 5 minutes later and drink the same beer? Sounds yucky? It's not romantic, to say the least, so let's leave it at that.

Now where was I? Till a few months ago, we had a string of scams. We had 2G scam, we had CWG scam, then there was the IRCTC scam (I always knew there was something wrong there, how else would a Ticket booking server go down at 8:00 AM sharp and then come back live when all the tickets are sold). Damn, sometimes when I see these scams, I don't feel sad. On the contrary, I feel proud that I am living in a country where people have a lot of money to donate to the tricksters. Cases were filed, culprits, convicts and witnesses were summoned, CBI was made to look like a clown and at the end of it, we saw some high profile people behind high profile bars, having tea and snacks with the Jail superintendent. Now you know why we are famous for loving and sharing our affection, irrespective of the kind of crime they might have committed?

When the tea was brewing and the kettle had just begun to whistle, we got a Samaritan who went on hunger strike in the jail, outside the jail, was caught sprinting towards a podium and people forgot about all these scams and were singing and dancing and making merry. And we forgot about who did what. So there is STML for you folks. A real time case study of how one should forget all the pain inflicted by their loved ones (after all, we are the ones who brought these so called scamsters to power, so they happen to be our brothers, sisters and small mother's son and daughter (chithi paiyyan, ponnu etc.).

And while the whole world struggles in economic storms and turbulence, we forget about all the money we have lost in stock markets, telephone bills, Common wealth games tickets and merchandise; And dance to the Samaritan's tunes and make merry (and more babies ofcourse, that's where Loves comes in)

What is Lok Pal bill going to achieve?

This week, I have felt how it is, to be in the middle of a volcanic eruption. On one hand, Indian team has been humiliated, wrung dry and hung on the clothesline by the English men. Who would have guessed that a Number 1 test team, fresh after their WC victory, and an aggressive Mr. Cool captain who was having a ball of time with back to back successes to add to his resume, would have been throttled and left short of breath? Embarrassment and shame form the crux of the team's feelings right now.

On the other hand, we have a mini Arab world like revolution boiling inside every common man's heart. What with the protagonist being arrested, then going on strike within the Tihar jail sanctuary and finally showing the world who is the boss. Looked like a page pulled straight out of a Bhojpuri drama. NDTV was playing interviews with A company, M company and God knows how many more companies. Despite the fact that I am a bit slow in understanding and grasping matters of national importance, I did understand a few things:
1. Anna is fighting to eradicate corruption from the system
2. Anna wants to bring in the PM and judiciary inside the purview of Lok Pal Bill
3. Lok Pal will be the next most strong authority after SC
4. The members of Indian Judiciary will also come into the Lok Pal Bill
5. Govt. is against bringing in PM and some members of the Judiciary and Bureaucratic organization into the purview of Lok Pal bill since that would mean they would be reporting to a different LoB

While I appreciate Annaji's efforts to bring in a corruption free society where a person will not have to pay more than the prescribed amount to get his work done, what I am finding hard to digest is the fact that a few members are trying to dictate terms and conditions as to how the Parliament should function.

Remember, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. You can call it as Egotistic attitude or plain Jingoism or whatever on part of the Government to not negotiate on all terms and conditions, but I feel it is right of the Government to dictate certain terms and conditions when it comes to matters of public importance. Take an example. If Lok Pal bill with "all" the conditions layed down by A company is accepted, it would mean 2 things:
1. The Government/Parliament is getting on it's knees in front of a few people "representing" the society.
2. A parallel Government would be the outcome of the Lok Pal bill which can veto the action of Supreme Court or PMO itself, which happen to be the highest level of functioning entities in India.

Do we really need a proxy at this point of time, when we could actually strengthen the existing laws and policies by just taking a subset of Lok Pal recommendations? Rome was not built in a day, and hence, it is impossible to have a "perfect" Pal bill that will remove corruption from the society on the day it is brought in. Even if Lok Pal bill does come up with all the suggestions of Team A, it will take at least 3 years to have any effect in the society as a whole. That's because corruption is not a software bug that can be fixed and closed with a few lines of code. It is imbibed into the mind of a human being. And there is no software that is capable of fixing bugs in human mindset, but the mind itself. It needs every individual to say "I won't pay a penny more" and be ready to wait for getting his work done. The Gen Y today might be ready to support Annaji by going on fast. dancing the whole night around bon fires. But will they be ready to compromise on their children's education by not paying the donation that the school demands? Will they be ready to go without eating, if the gas connection agency does not provide LPG as they said they will not pay for the extra cylinder?

My suggestion. Get some of the items of Lok Pal into the existing one proposed by the Government, even if it does not have PMO and SC into the purview. Get the bill out and show some results. And if things are beginning to change, but the only thing that is standing in the way is the behavior of certain Govt. agents, you can modify the bill since now you have a case that fixing the issues at this agent level will get the system at 10% less corruption stage.

Finally, one person cannot hold the system to ransom. If fasting will get results, every person will start fasting. A software engineer will fast in front of his manager's house to get a hike. A husband will fast in front of his in law's house to get the dowry, and that would be legal. I will fast in front of the saloon since my barber increased hair dressing charges by Rs. 10/=. It is a double edged sword we are treading on now. You could either listen to the heart and fall and get cut, or listen to your mind and get cut. The only difference, you were atleast sane enough to listen to your mind.

Like Col. Trauman tells Rambo in First Blood..."Let go, Let go"