Now, To Get It Right

Now that all media and the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign have claimed victory we should look at more important things ahead and not rest on achievements of the last two days. But before we do, an observation. It is a sad statement on the state of our democracy when gaining the right to protest is hailed as a victory. We are not China for Mao's sake!

Today, the fast will continue from Ramlila Maidan. The fast to ensure implementation of key clauses in the proposed Jan Lokpal Bill (JLB). However, the IAC should tread very carefully and with responsibility. The agitation of the past few days should not be assumed to be a logical support for all their recommendations. It is not a mandate to try to force the government to agree to all their demands. There has to be genuine debate over the issue they are fighting for. Not that they already haven't, but since they are making a renewed effort, it is important to keep their emotions in check. We also need to remember that the government has not agreed to discuss the draft bill yet, they have only given permission to protest. It is however safe to assume that at some point they will give in.

It is also important, more now than ever, when IAC has the attention of the nation and the government, to be magnanimous and flexible. A lot of people are concerned about the seemingly blackmail-ish methods being adopted by the movement. The IAC also has a responsibility to allay such concerns. Though some might understand the desperation, they still do not agree with methods adopted. Since the IAC has assumed representation on behalf of the people of the country, it is important they be whatever they say the government is not. While it is commendable that they have prepared a draft bill on their own, it is inevitable that anybody with some knowledge of it will not have their two cents to put in. The movement has become bigger than the IAC campaign and they will need to be receptive to many more new ideas than before.

This movement has a lot going for it. The people have pledged their almost blind support to the collective wisdom of the IAC leaders. Now is the time for them to differentiate themselves from the leaders we elect. The burden of responsibility is huge. People's expectations have gone beyond the JLB. They sense, want real sustainable change. Having started a good thing, the IAC campaign will  need to play an important role in the coming months, JLB or no JLB. The IAC leaders need to look at the bigger picture here. Even if some of their demands are not met (and that will be the case eventually), they have been provided with an unprecedented opportunity to effect real change. The JLB is just an instrument to implement the bigger, far reaching goals. Though it is a good start, it should definitely not be the end.

As Uncle Ben said it, "with great power comes great responsibility".

There Is Hope For Us Still

This is not a political post. This is not about the movement or about Anna Hazare (AH). This is about the people. The mass of people who turned up yesterday at India Gate and scores of other cities across India, UK and the US. In a brilliant display of spontaneous civil awakening, some 20,000 people turned up at India Gate yesterday afternoon through the night. It is about people who are fed up with the going ons, the way we have to live our lives everyday.

For once, everybody seems united by a common concern. A concern that for so long has affected all sections of society for so long. Yesterday it became a cause. It was amazing to see people from all walks of life, men & women, the elderly, people with their families. Yet there was a commonality which transcended every distinction which we learn to live with in this country.

Anna Hazare may be the face and voice of this movement, but the people supporting it are its body. These are people who have made an effort to be seen, to be heard, to stand up and be counted. The urgency to set things right is contagious and much needed. People have had enough of living their lives facing corruption every day. It is this frustration that has spurred these people into action. To say it loud and clear, we will not take this lying down. What many people, intellectuals, analysts, politicians, the media (NDTV especially) do not get is that this is not about the Jan Lokpal Bill. People are piggybacking on that one issue to be vent their anger about corruption at large. The anger and frustration is not going to subside even if the bill is amended to incorporate changes suggested by the team led by AH. The people feel there is a real chance for change now. A change in how we deal with the administration every day.

The other notable thing yesterday was how the march from India Gate to Jantar Mantar and back was conducted. Unlike what some congressmen (Mr. Rashid Alvi) have suggested it was not organized by the US govt. It was a deluge of people, people who got up from their homes & offices just to be there. Yet there was this overriding sense of responsibility, that no confrontation takes place. It was incredible to see how a group of thousands of people were so well behaved. Volunteers were managing traffic, passing out food and water, cleaning the roads off leftovers. It is rare to see such a display of collective civil behaviour in India. Even cricket matches where the whole crowd is backing the same team are witness to incidents which shame us. Here it was something else.

The marchers were told to stick to one side of the road, and unbelievably not one person crossed the yellow median. People waited at regular intervals to let traffic through. The reaction from the people waiting in traffic was also incredibly encouraging. People got out of their cars to cheer the marchers on, heads sticking out of bus windows joined in the various slogans being raised, bikers giving thumbs up to marchers passing them by, boy was it wonderful! Compare all of this to how political rallies are held in Delhi. All traffic is blocked, public property is damaged, commuters heckled, the police usually has to resort to using water cannons and mild lathi charge. Here there was not a single incident reported, no scuffles, no eyeball to eyeball confrontations. Both the marchers and the commuters shared a genuine concern for each other's problems. There was no us v/s them. I romanticize, but it is hard not to.

It is also commendable if we start comparing yesterday's events with what has been happening around the world. It is easy to whip up mass frenzy when a cause is shared by numbers as large as yesterday. Yet the restraint we displayed shows us that we are maturing as a people. Sensibilities have changed, public anger is no more about beating up people on the road, tearing apart barricades, damaging buses, burning effigies. It is about being heard. Loud and fucking clear.

I sincerely hope it stays like this in the days to come. We should build on the momentum of this movement. We should stay civil, be the change we wish to see. Yesterday, we saw a glimpse of what we can be. It is time we start being that, everyday.

Ek dhakka aur! (one more push)

Tomorrow morning Anna Hazare (AH) will most probably court arrest for defying the Delhi Police's order denying his movement permission for organizing a protest in Delhi. We will again be subjected to 24/7 coverage of the issue for the next few days and hear a lot of talk from both the sides. The way things have unraveled in the build up are indicative that the next few days will be no different.

With the Congress assuming a ridiculous stand, that AH is also corrupt (over a 2 lakh rupee birthday party!) and the AH camp assuming a stubborn stand that the fast is the only way to go ahead, there is not much hope for any meaningful dialogue taking place. The congress may be right (we do not know yet) about the birthday party misappropriation of funds, but does it not reek of petty desperation that a party which is widely accepted to be corrupt, indeed has many leaders accused of large scale corruption, is hoping that a badly organized birthday party is the answer to stopping the impending protest. It is the tool of the weak and scared to resort to mudslinging of the kind we have seen in the last few days.

Not only has the congress resorted to what they know best, petty and the dirtiest type of politics, it has actively engaged all their departments/ministers to deny the movement any chance of legally undertaking a protest. It will be illegal in any form tomorrow. With Section 144 being implemented, the AH camp has little choice but to either court arrest or back down. Given their stubbornness and resolve, one can expect a mini jail bharo abhiyaan.

Although I believe all this talk and tamasha serves some purpose, viz. we are at least talking about corruption, the media is engaged in real debate and not focusing on flimsy bollywood updates, there is concern that all this tamasha will distract us from the real topic.

But before even we get to the real topic a lot of people (other than Congress spokespersons) have heaped scorn on the leaders of the current movement against corruption. A majority of our educated, aware people in urban centers have distanced themselves from the movement, mostly on the account of it being headed by AH. Prominent anti-establishment journos like Tavlin Singh, Vinod Mehta and pro-govt. media channels like NDTV have openly taken a stand against AH, clubbing the movement and the notional head as one. This, in my opinion is the very reason why we as a country are unable to move in one direction together. We are far too often busy pulling each other down and finding mistakes in what other people do.

I do not agree with the methods adopted by the campaign, but think while it is important to undertake the campaign in an effective manner, it is also important to look at the bigger picture. The movement is bigger than an individual. AH is no Gandhi, he is not a saint, so what? The issue is bigger than him or Kiran Bedi or the Bhushans, definitely bigger than Dr. Singh or the Congress Party.

We also need to understand the desperation behind the ways being adopted by the campaign. In a country where the opposition is busy self-destructing, has no common voice, and is as corrupt as the party in power, what are social workers with no political background supposed to do? They have no experience in organizing campaigns of this scale. Does it mean they don't? The govt. after 40 odd years at least tabled the bill in parliament. Most people who today oppose the campaign would be lying if they claim they even knew about the Lokpal Bill or the fact that they thought the govt. would bring it to parliament on their own. Such desperate, albeit incorrect ways, have been legitimatized by the government itself. Because there is no will on the govt's behalf to do the right thing.  

The Lokpal Bill is not the be all and end all of the anti-corruption campaign. It is a start. If the government of India is not even willing to discuss a bill, do we really believe that they are willing to tackle corruption? They thrive on it, they will not ever want to deal with it. Until they are forced to. For the first time we have the government on the defensive. Let us give it all the push we can.

Sadly, we need to keep pushing people from all walks of life to do the right thing; it just does not come naturally to most of the people in this country. So let us push, ourselves, the govt, the campaign.

Just to quote Rage Against the Machine:

If we don't take action now
We settle for nothing later
Settle for nothing now
And we'll settle for nothing later
If we don't take action now
We settle for nothing later
We'll settle for nothing now
And we'll settle for nothing later

Throw down the Gauntlet....and leave it there

Let me add to the noise that is being generated on account of the great reversal of fortunes in Indian cricket. From being world champions to submitting to the British has rekindled memories of an era gone by; circa 1857 (well that time we at least put up a fight!). Hope this phase does not last that long though.

Watching Rahul Dravid's reaction yesterday after dropping yet another catch was more painful than watching Kambli crying at the Eden Gardens. When 'the wall' is frustrated you know something is terribly wrong. It is not that we have not lost before in an equally shameful fashion, it is the team's Poland-like surrender of 1939 which is concerning. We do not seem to be putting up a fight at all. As pointed out by a recent article one can't tell whether it is the English who are playing superbly or the Indians playing like Bermuda.

This series has thrown up a lot of concerns, which I am sure the BCCI has taken no notice of. The fact that our best bowler broke down within the first hour of play on a more than a month long tour, how we have NO replacement in place, how we had absolutely no preparation coming into this series, why does Sreesanth continue to play for the test team and so on. Another commentator pointed out yesterday that no team rightfully claiming the No. 1 spot can rely on any one person. That was the great thing about Indian cricket in the past few years. The emergence of good solid players from opening to the tail. The fact that we stopped relying on Sachin or Kumble was the most important contribution leading upto our victory in April 2011.

What we are witnessing now is the result of complete absence of any planning on behalf of the powers that be. Our players have not stopped being great suddenly. They are worryingly overworked and denied basic preparation time. School teams spend more time practicing than the current lot. The time gap provided to the Indian team between the test matches in the Windies and the UK was fitting for a tourist not for a team of world class professional sportsmen.

There is also a lot of noise being made about the IPL being responsible for our current woes. Not entirely accurate or off the mark either. Cricket is one of the very few sports which is played across varying formats. There is an obvious ambiguity here. While we have benefited in the ODI format because of IPL, our test team is bearing the brunt of it. In today's scenario, cricketers need to be near schizophrenic to do well across all formats. It is all the more important to plan well and well in advance. A team playing ODIs, Tests and T20s all in one series is bound to get confused and complacent. The importance of other formats is going to go down the drain if the team does really well in another.

Cricket administrators in their unquenchable greed are trying to juggle all three formats at the same time. We have seen them bungle up with much less responsibilities. Expecting players to perform across formats is not only realistic but borders on cruelty. In times like these it is commendable that players like Michael Clarke come out publicly in support of one format over the other.

India's current woes are a direct result of the madness that runs through everybody in the BCCI. We have to stop milking the cricket team and the sport for more riches. It is time that we reevaluate our systems now, when the team is not doing well. Because we will be complacent once we start winning again. All of this will then be conveniently forgotten.

No More Singhing

The 65th Independence Day is round the corner. Dr. Singh will make yet another speech at the Red Fort in the capital. The point of which is almost always lost on me. Except when Rajiv Gandhi claimed that his government will 'nani yaad dila denge' (will remind the terrorists; their maternal grand mothers!) and when Vajpayee got out of the car with one shoe. Maybe somebody should have proclaimed 'joote yaad dila denge'!

It amazes me how our country, each year is almost always younger than people to stand behind that AIR mic every 15th August. We are a nation catching up with our obsolete politicians, when it should be the other way around. Like every year, this year too we will hear about the many children who will faint while listening to the PM speak. Fortunately for them, they pass out somewhere towards the start of the speech as they are made to wait many hours in the open; in not so comfortable Delhi weather. Which makes me think, why pick children as your audience on i-day? They are always from junior school, too young to vote, too naive to understand political hyperbole and always too smart to feign sickness at the start of the speech. Not only that why does the govt. choose to broadcast the speech on Doordarshan, when exactly five people watch the channel (you know who you are, might know each other as well).

I really do not see any point in this annual tamasha, especially when things not only not improve each passing year, they actually get worse. The last year has seen record scams being unearthed, almost as if politicans wanted to mark the 65th i-day in a special way. Well they succeeded! The scams along with other political happenings have made this truly a special year. Just to name a few of those, lest we forget,  

• 2G
• Adarsh Group Housing
• Aircel Scam
• Bellary Mining
• BMC Road Scam
• Commonwealth Games (the name has a new meaning now)
• Lavassa Scam
• The entire one year of Mayawati's rule
• IPL 3 & 4 (it was always politics!)
• Yeddyurappa & Family Scam
• Greater Noida
• Mamta winning in Bengal
• Jayalalitha winning

The list is endless.

The names change every year, but the promises remain the same. This year however I think, Dr. Singh can really shake things up a bit. I have a suggestion for him which I hope he accepts. He should keep it short, spare everybody the one and a half hour of bullcrap. In fact, here it is. He should get up to the podium, look straight into the camera, the Indian flag flying in the background, and say " I QUIT". Not only will it make it to guinness book for the shortest speech ever, it will also be the perfect thing to do. No promises, no schemes, no reminiscing.

About time we used that massive stage for something momentous.

On a Sticky Wicket

Surprise surprise! Even the hallowed sport of cricket has not been spared by our most enterprising sports administrators (read: politicians with too much time on their hands). As it turns out Gavaskar and Shastri are quite adept at delivering the verbal version of the doosra. Before relevant details were leaked to the media, one was wondering aloud about Shastri's freshly renewed pride. It always seemed a little misplaced; especially how he picked a fight with the very likeable Nasser Hussain. Who may I add, acted with such class and dignity, even though he does not have the world's most powerful sport administration backing him or without the promise of assured employment, privileges which messers Shastri/Gavaskar have.

A lot of fans, commentators have echoed Shastri's 'they are jealous' line (yours truly included), but it is also not very hard to see why we are hated with such passion abroad. We are the America of cricket. Interfering with functioning of cricket boards across the world, depending on the situation influencing or ignoring the UN equivalent of cricket; the ICC, driven by a supreme cause of commercial exploitation of players & fans alike, an extreme myopic selfserving view, the BCCI and the Indian cricketing fraternity has managed to alienate almost every other country which plays the sport. Much like the consumerist leaning Americans, we too have succumbed to the people's thirst for cricketing action. More is good! 

India today is a country grappling with its sustained above average growth. The prospects of earning more money has affected every aspect of our lives. As Maninder Singh pointed out, in a corrupt country like ours, it is difficult to imagine cricket (or any sport) to be untouched. Upholding the spirit of the game is the responsibility of 22 men in whites on the field alone. The men in whites off it, however are a different story altogether. Our netas control the sport as they do with everything else. It would be naive to expect our politicians (who have significant investments in our media sector) not wanting to influence opinion when it comes to cricket. For them, it is yet another poistion of power, another business unit churning money for the once in five years test that they have to face. On home soil that too.

Shastri and Gavaskar are mere pawns in the great game that is being played out in the shadows. The constant hunger for even more power and control is rotting every institution, every sector, every aspect of our lives. Whether it be politicians changing school syllabi, IIM admission norms, implementing reservations, owning media channels/newspapers, movie production houses, large corporations, religious trusts, chariatable organizations, PR firms, etc. The list is endless. It is the sad truth of our incredible growth story. The politicians now control EVERY aspect of our lives. Indeed they have benefited the maximum during these years of unprecedented growth. And they will go to any lengths to protect their positions.

Sadly, the last wicket has fallen.

The Thorn of the British Umpire

Yesterday's play during the third day of the second test match between India and England has thrown up an issue which has been simmering in the background for the last few years. Namely, the increasing discomfort with India's rise both as a competitive team and as the financial driver of the game. While it was amazing to see our erstwhile colonial masters and their kala panied descendants squirm during this period, the euphoria is beginning to wear off. India is no longer the upstart, the rebelious child of World Cricket. The Indian team is the best in the world today and that is a fact. With this new status a weight of expectations have been firmly planted on our not so strong cricketing shoulders. Unfairly so.

Why is the onus of playing the game within the so called undefined concept of 'spirit' with India alone? Why is it that India is still expected to behave in a manner which will appease the white colonial racist custodians of the game? Why do not we see an effort from the established cricket boards to adjust to the new realities of the changing pecking order in world cricket? It is annoying that we are still treated as outsiders, like the village bum in an exclusive gentleman's club.

While Dhoni's decision was commendable, it was absolutely unnecessary. Can one imagine such 'sportsmanship' during the Ashes series? Kevin Peitersen recently commented that the Ashes was much more intense than the Pataudi Series (India-England Series) because of the genuine shared hatred between the Poms and the Aussies. Would the spirit of the game be alive and kicking in such circumstances! The double standards adopted by the English players, commentators, the viewing public are manifestations of greater issues, which we shall not dwell on at this point.

It is time that the ECB (English Cricket Board) and CA (Cricket Australia) and the ICC establish a level playing field. It is of greater importance that they lose their white man's burden, of teaching us the gentleman's way of playing cricket. From Ranji to Sehwag they have always failed.

They need to realize that cricket is a sport and not a royal warrant or a diktat from the Archbishop of Canterbury.