Corrupt - Shun

Its one of those rare times when something other than cricket has taken precedence in Indian media. I think it can be safe to say that this time, Anna Hazare stole even the Independence Day's thunder. With due fairness, he kinda deserved it. After all these years, it was known to be a national holiday where people are forced to attend flag hoisting events, sing a few songs and distribute sweets.

Its nice to see people from all walks of life uniting for a cause. Even the dabbawalas of Mumbai stopped their operations for a day to show their support, the first time these guys have bunked work in 120 years. Its even nice to see people in other countries as well involving themselves and atleast spreading the message.

The fight against corruption has surely united the country and one probably gets a glimpse of what the freedom struggle might have look like. While the whole Annagiri and a strong Lokpal Bill might be the right weapons to fight corruption, they might not just be right for this moment. I'm not being cynical or pessimistic but we all know the root cause of this problem.

Its always very easy to blame the government and the politicians for everything, even though I must admit this time someone really has to put the 'Man' into 'Mohan' and make him a real Singh. The solution to eradicate corruption isn't a bill or a protest. For all we know it looks like a huge tangled fur ball and we are of the illusion that pulling the two ends with a bill and a protest will solve the issue. As citizens, each and everyone of us have found ourselves atleast once among this food chain of corruption.

The reason why corruption exists in such a huge proportion is because whether you accept it or not, in many cases it becomes a necessity and more often than not makes matters easy for all the parties involved. Why do we pay 50 bucks to the PC and avoid a Rs.300 fine for driving without a licence. For once, you would like to get away by paying less and the less paid constable wouldn't mind some pocket money.  Put yourself into the PC's position. The guy probably has a family and has to take care of his kids' needs but is paid a meager 5k per month. So does he have any other option? The solution lies not in just education but in bringing about the right economic reforms. Bump up their pay-scales to a respectable number, something on par with what is paid for freshers in private firms and then see the difference. The necessity to put the hand under the table will be eradicated. But the again, I've also seen people earning 6 figure salaries every month resorting to cheap antics like the one mentioned above which talks a lot about filthy people trying to remove filth. 

All I want to insist is that the change must come from within. Once the big fishes are devoid of  small fishes to feed on, a shift in the chain will take place. Stop bribing the agents to get your passport or licence done and please stop bribing the poojary to get a better glimpse of a stone structure.

P.S - I'm off to the Oval to hopefully witness the 100th 100 and have those "I was there" moments.

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London Bangalored

The blog has been dead for quite sometime now. All thanks to the terrible service of my broadband partner Virgin Media and mobile partner Three and not to forget my fake laptop charger which finally gave up amidst the numerous twists and cuts and even sparks at times.

But then again I have to blame my lazy ass as well. I'm still going through the honeymoon period in my new job and I still get back home before the sun sets(which may not well be the right measure to use in this season). So far so good and I'm still carrying my own lunch and still haven't metamorphosized into one of those stereotypical health conscious people running to Sainsbury's or Tesco to grab lunch or just feasting on salads to stay fit.

Aha. Now why did I actually bring up the topic of fitness. I have about 6 months to go to do something about it. I sure can't adopt the above method. Something hardcore and old school, like.......hmmmmm...lets c...Yoga?? Naaa. Not my kind...Classical Dance??? Noooo way..Watching all of that "Underworld Flashback" on Suvarna has made me think about "Gardi" as well. In fact that is the perfect option, but where can I find one here. Damnn..Just when I finally make up my mind, the universe deceives me. Never mind. Dieting is still not an option and abstinence from meat will never even have the balls to even crop up on the list. So that leaves me with running. Should ask silent to gift me a pair of running shoes. After all I'll not be only person admiring the fit new me!!!

London might be well known for Buckingham palace or Tower Bridge or Big Ben or London Eye or even for its bad weather, which in my position, using theory of relativity doesn't really seem that bad. But for me its the tube system that astonishes me everyday and have become an ardent admirer of the way it functions. The first underground tube started in London more than 100 years ago and we are still in the process of erecting pillars in Bengaluru. I honestly hope everything goes well with "namma metro" and that it becomes a pride of the city.

Meanwhile I see striking similarities between London and Bengaluru. For starters, both the cities are heavily populated and the local population is a major minority. The no of desis in London are proportional to the comrades from up north residing in Bengaluru. The number of Polish and other European people are proportional to the thambis and annayas in Bengaluru. Just like its hard to hear any Kannada in garden city, its actually quite hard to listen to a proper Londoner's English anywhere. Sounds crazy but its actually true.

Nevertheless its quite ironical to celebrate Independence day from the land of the people from whom we actually took it. So happy Independence Day to everyone for being independent about something and for planning to become independent in atleast one more thing.

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