Hey Ram: the death of our Gandhi

Vinay — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:03:45 +0000

If you are an Indian, with your mother’s blood, tolerance is fed through your umbilical cord. Our 4500 years old history had witnessed administrative rules of many empires; that figure can outnumber the words written to justify the significance of Jerusalem. In all these years India has been absorbing everything that came in her way, adding every element of art, aggression, color, hatred, science to the culture. We have been like a Womb; embracing every sin and truth with love, large part of which is acceptance that comes with compulsion and duty. With the closed eyes.

To the extent that we have been highly accommodating to the corruption and the wrong deeds of the present democratic system which we like to brag with the sheer volume and not by character. We have accepted corruption like a polymeric limb. We are wholly aware about its jeopardy but we had not opposed it collectively and explicitly with the fear of derailing the system. And that is the reason we have never witnessed any anti-corruption rallies before; the fear of a ‘tougher’ day has always kept us away from the reprisal. And we learn to live with it like the way we are carrying the beliefs of our earlier rulers. The sheer weight of the patience and tolerance the Indians carry among them can put the world to shame and is the only common thing among the thousands of creeds and origins that keeps them together.

Independence might appear as a rebellion, but behind the scenes the India knew she was again impregnated with the remains of kingdom, pain of partition and power plays. The Independence that appears to be the result of the uprising of an Indian might be a power play of few good men. Everything seemed momentary, even the independence. As Nehru finished the ‘tryst with the destiny’, the India was again ready to embrace, the new philosophy, of a new ruler. Since then corruption has become a part of our culture. To an extent that when the Common Wealth Games scam was bigger even by the Indian standards, we accepted it with the fear of derailing the system. We suspend our concise while paying a bribe or taking someone’s share, because it works in our setup, in our era. We give bribe, We don’t vote, We don’t retaliate, We can live with inhuman setups. In a way we have accepted the virtual culture of this democracy. All these years, in spite of the sheer need of amendment in the system and in spite of constant conflict with our conscience for supporting corruption with both hands, we never hired civil disobedience. And one of the prominent reasons why Mahatma Gandhi stroked a cord with us was because of the irrational amounts of this tolerance and self-denial resting under our skin. Whenever he walked for Satyagrah, we followed him with our dark skin. Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagrah was carried by the civil disobedience and self -denial. So, for now Gandhi was left just as self-denial in us.

Anna Hazare, the Gandhian has polarized the country, both views want the same result of transformation of the current set up and not evolution. With the ‘I am Anna’ posters, Indians carry the anger that was entrapped in the self-denial for ages. Anna’s stiff not firm way of protesting might have created 1.2 billion opinions, but every opinion leads to single desire of an outlet; for what they have been holding for ages, to accommodate for their ‘less bitter’ future. The nation stands over the brink of a cliff, where jumping off seems to be the only choice to become free of the guilt and disease. As Indians we have never settled at a threshold, we have seen the bottom to be left with only one option. To come out. To overflow. With self-proclaimed shrewd, stranded government and inexorable, tired Anna, Indians would cross the barriers. Might not with a stick but with the will. The World is yet to see how this revolution transforms India, but Anna, the Gandhian has slayed the remains of Gandhi in us. May be, our self-denial has already said, “Hey Ram!”

Private curtain for the Private Fall

Vinay — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:25:18 +0000

“Spurring Value creation in IT services”, I read this interview by Mckinsey quarterly way back in September 2007. With each word, and each comma the fervor for the interviewee multiplied in my mind.Those words taught about a new business language, leadership values and a ‘dynamic’ model that will create a balance between all tasks in the organisation.

That Dynamic model was “Satyam Way”, and the interviewee Ramalinga Raju. Little did i know that Satyam shares i bought in bulk after reading that ‘dynamic model’ will go off roads within an year.

Many hearts sank faster than the Satyam shares and whole of the Indian IT industry went defensive. The swollen markets and faces made the accident worse. It was very easy for ‘created’ muddle to produce ripples that could shake the foundations of the markets. The Indian Government acted as an ephemeral spine for Satyam computers with firm thought that it won’t subsidize the wrong doing and fraud directly or in-directly. Rather than acting like a Dady feeding his Spoiled kid with chocolates; like the way Uncle Sam feeded the bankrupt companies with so called nourishing bailout packages, Indian Government made it sure that Indians’ tax money is not used as a curtain to cover the rape of Corporate Governance. Instead of eyeing the public accounts, it made the biding open for private players to save the doomed enterprise and relaxed code regulations of Securities and Exchange board of India. At every step Indian Government planned to save Polio riden enterprise from cruches and look for a prosthesis that will help regain its shape and momentum again.

Only time and the stock market will tell how the government of India has faired in this task, but one thing is for sure that every element engaged in the scene has gained from this strategy be it the private enterprise who took over, Satyam clients, shareholders and employees and the common man whose hard earned penny could have gone for the higher management’s wine and cheese bills.

While Ramalinga Raju is still figuring out the dynamic ‘Satyam Way’ model in jail and Uncle Sam is running after Financial giants to check the bonuses like a mom with a glass of milk and stick , Indian Government is having a sound ‘proud’ sleep; not literally though.

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Hey Ram: the death of our Gandhi

Private curtain for the Private Fall