It Begins Early

"Finally I got admission for my child in the school I was trying!" Father said proudly to friend.

"Oh really! How wonderful! LKG, right?" asked the friend.

Father nodded. "Paid Rs 1.25 lakh."

The friend gaped. "Oh!"

"They have said the moment they have a seat free, they will give my daughter a seat too, in class II."

"And how much for that?"

"Oh, the school is very reasonable. The same Rs. 1.25 lakh."

The friend gulped. His child was eight months old. If he had to try for admission in this school two years down the line, he wondered how much he would have to pay!

When the daughter got through too, the father was ecstatic.
**

A year later, the father came to the friend. "Do you remember a school your sister mentioned - where they have mixed class groups for normal and borderline children?"

The friend frowned. "Yes..." he said puzzled. "Someone looking for such a school?" He noticed the care lines on his friend's face. "Why are you looking so down?" he asked.

The man shook his head. "My daughter... She is not able to cope with the syllabus. She is too playful, it seems, and doesn't pay attention in class. The teacher suggested I consult a counselor. The counselor did a test on her and she said my daughter may be hyperactive."

The friend frowned. The symptoms sounded just like the Father had been when he was a student. "Why don't you get a second opinion?"

"I did," the father said, dejected. "But that lady gave an inconclusive report and the school punched holes in that."

"So?"

"I don't want my daughter to struggle and feel she is a failure," the father said.

The friend felt that she had already been branded one. "So?"

"So, the school suggested I find another school for her. They had the best interest of the child in mind."

The friend inhaled deeply. Whose best interests, he wondered. The school would replace this child with another, and pocket another 1.25 lakh, if that was still the going rate. "So you want to go with their verdict?"

The father turned to him with a haunted look. "My wife is unable to cope with the complaints from school. We are so focused on her that we almost neglect our son."

The friend shook his head in sympathy. "I will find out," he assured the father.

The relief in the father's eyes when the second school accepted the child was so immense, that he didn't even mind paying Rs 50000 for getting admission in class 4 for his daughter.

Are We Really Against Corruption?

Am I a cynic? I don't know. I should join in the applause to the way the average Indian Middle Class has risen up to the occasion and joined in the anti corruption movement. But somehow, when I see some of the people joining in... I am not sure we even understand what corruption is.

I believe doctors and school students are part of the campaign. And yet, hospitals, the entire medical system, the educational institutions - are they ready to clean up their acts before pointing fingers?

And then,  maybe 200 crores happens in the top levels. But the 100-200 happens at the bottom. It is people like the maids and the other with basic education that end up paying and taking money. Are they part of this movement? Are they aware? Will they want to be part of this movement since this is how they fulfill their aspirations?

Am I justifying bribes then? Or anti anti-corruption? Neither. I am just confused.

I feel it is not only about a change in the system, but also a change from within. Are we ready for this? Are we ready to wait patiently at signals, wait our turn in queues, abide by a law even if it is not in our favour, and not run after loopholes to our advantage? Are we ready not to go for the best hospital, best school, best seat, if it means paying money - whatever its name?

It is good, what Anna Hazare is doing. He is conscientious, and has high personal standards. His wants are  minimal and therefore, his transgressions- if any - would be unwitting. I have no doubt about that, or what he is fighting for.

But I believe that even while we must congregate in large numbers to show our support for the movement, we must also stand up in our own small worlds for causes that matter. We must also say - if this is right, I must and will do it. I am not sure I have that courage still, that I am not prevaricating a decision simply because it may not be convenient for me.

I hope that even while raising the cleanliness level in the political institutions, this movement cleans us up as people and makes us assess our priorities and change them for the greater good.

Anubavangal: Kurangilirundu pirantha manithan

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All for Big Bucks

I am not a political writer, or too savvy about developments in the political world. My newspaper reading is cursory at best, and many a times, comics are the only things I read.

I received a mail today from an organisation that conducted a debate on the need for Lokpal Bill. The summary points further summarised - we already have laws to deal with bribes. Implement them. Lokpal Bill only adds a layer and can go the same way as CVC and the investigative agencies. It ends by lauding Anna Hazare for bringing the issue of corruption to the forefront.

Indeed, today he is in preventive custody. The government - the president and the prime minister - are playing with words. The government is finding excuses, digging up dirt just to weaken the movement. But the question is, to what end? Will the people of India, now coming together as India Against Corruption sit quietly if Hazare is removed? Well, in one way, the government has added teeth to the movement. Talk of cutting one's nose to spite one's face!

What shakes me up is the question - is the government so weak that it is scared to tighten its belt, take action and deal with corruption? Is it enough to put Raja and Kalmadi behind bars?

Again and again, only one image comes up in my mind... the dhoti clad Indian politician rolling in wealth and then dying amidst all that money in sheer joy. How will he transport it to the next world then! If we Indians believe in destiny and fate, weren't we also taught about karma - the other, bigger ledger maintained by Chitragupta? Maybe it is unfashionable to believe in gods these days, but at least that kept us in check to some extent. Now we neither believe in gods, nor our own conscience... It's all about money, honey.

Anubavangal: Porulaathaaram irunthum manathil ethu thaaraalam? ...

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One Earth: Social Entrepreneurs

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