A Victory for Credibility.

Great personalities generate movements and phenomena million fold more powerful than they achieve as individuals. Anna Hazare is one such individual. Love him or hate him but you can't ignore Anna Hazare.

Anna has unleashed a thunderbolt of civic indignation and touched the consciousness of the Indian masses. More incredible was that it is backed by an Indian populace which had accepted and abetted corruption as a way of existence for most of their life.


Since dawn of time, exploitation has been a reality. As can be seen in nature, a good exploiter normally the parasite exploits only to the extent that the host is able to sustain. This is not because parasites are kind they will ensure that the host cannot escape or will not die, so that the parasite can continue to feed off and exploit the host.

Unfortunately the politicians, bureaucrats, and many officials have been excessive in their exploitation and now it appears that they will destroy the very society that they have sworn to serve and protect. Many are parasitic and feel they have many hosts that they can feed off and do not mind killing off the hosts by sucking the life out of them.

A little 'baksheesh' was always considered acceptable for work done or support or advice provided. Nowadays so pandemic corruption has become that the cost of corruption is greater than the cost of genuine business, not only in monetary terms but in wasted time and resources.

It is hoped that the movement will hopefully singe the parasites, but there lurks a real danger that the seething anger is giving rise to a firestorm that may engulf both good along with the bad.
If uncontrolled, like a tsunami it will lay to waste a lot in its path.

What do Anna Hazare and his close associates like Kiran Bedi have that they have won the hearts and minds of a large number of Indians?

CREDIBILITY.

Credibility is something that the political leaders lack in spite of numerous pontificating speeches and press conferences. Everything they utter is treated with disdain and suspicion. If they cannot convince they confuse and if they cannot confuse they corrupt the system.

If all else fails they set the various government agencies to hound those who dare to question them. Prime weapon is of course the tax departments followed by numerous other agencies with unbridled power to disrupt lives and commerce.


Credibility gaps in the Government and political leadership are;

1. Government is headed by a Prime Minister who until recently was viewed with great respect and therefore of whom the whole nation has great expectations. Now charged with dereliction of duty and blatant omissions in his administration. Disappointment is high because expectations are great.
2. Government is now run by family cartels.
3. Average thirty fold increase in declared net worth of members of parliament in each term served.
4. Ostentatious lifestyle of leaders
5. Acts do not match words.
6. Zero tolerance for dissent.
7. Presence of significant number of criminals in government and political parties nurturing criminals.
8. Aggressive and overbearing in its approach
9. Making life more difficult and stressful for society. 

Credibility advantages of Anna Hazare;

1. Headed by Anna Hazare, a Gandhian who always practices what he preaches.
2. Consistent and works democratically
3. Spartan lifestyle
4. Surrounded by illustrious and highly respected and clean individuals
5. Very little assets if any at all 
6. Dignified and passive in approach.
7. Firm and consistent with deeds matching words

Only time will tell if David will win or Goliath will crush the challenger to his authority and power. At the moment Anna Hazare has the support of the people and the moral advantage, while the ruling Congress party has the political legitimacy and the brute force.

Why is the government unable to persuade the people to accept their view? Why is it that many of us are unable to get our point across and to be belived?


The important lesson to be drawn for all of us in all walks of life can be gleaned from Edward Murrow’s quote; "To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful."

Burn Out

Photo by Sanjay Kothari.    www.sanjaykothari.com      

Burnout

Complaining has become a national pastime. Though pessimism makes people appear intelligent and concerned, no complainer ever solved any problem.

People foolishly think, that merely by wringing their hands and clicking on 'likes' on social media their problems will somehow magically get solved.

People who can do anything usually do something. It seems that those who cannot do anything, usually complain. Actually, most people can actually do something, rarely try,  because they suffer from something called 'Burnout'.

What is burnout?
First reported by researchers in 1974 to describe long term unresolvable stress. Simply put 'Burnout' is the feeling of helplessness and the realisation that it is futile to even try to effect any change. 

Though there are many reasons, modern social expectations and work pressure seems to be the main culprit for burnout. Burnout produces cynical, bad tempered people who suffer from physical and emotional exhaustion. Burnt-out individuals display 80% of the same symptoms as people suffering clinical depression.

Modernity has mostly produced a depersonalised humanity, a society of organisations, which are directly or indirectly connected to an obscenely gigantic government. 
No individual is free to say, do or pursue what he or she wants without being challenged or obstructed by some organisation, usually a government department or organisation. Most organisations being bureaucratic in nature, over time rot and become dysfunctional. Therefore they tend to be unresponsive and significantly detached from the needs of the people they employ or are paid to serve, they become obstructive.
  

Its important to remember that in any conflict between a good individual and a bad system, the bad system always wins. This is because the faceless organisation has the resources power and time to frustrate and exhaust the individual. 


A cruel but powerful illustration of burnout can be observed in an experiment carried out by scientists on rats in a laboratory. 

In this experiment rats were placed in two different cages. 
Both cages were wired so that disturbing electricity could flow through the floor of the cage. However in first cage there existed a red lever, which, when bumped against would cause the electrical current to cease flowing. In the second cage there were no options to stop the electrical current flow by the rats.

When activated the first group of mice very quickly learnt to stop the current by bumping against the lever. They neutralised the threat having learnt how to respond. 

In the second group the mice went into a frenzy whenever the current was passed and after some time they merely lay down to await their death..

Now the group of mice were interchanged between the cages. The same current was passed. The mice that learnt of the red lever kept on trying to find solutions. Eventually this group of mice tore open the bottom of the aluminium cage and chewed and short circuited the wires and shut off the flow of the deadly current. They had developed an attitude to find solutions and survive.


 The second group even though having an option to stop the current simply lay down and waited for death rather than looking for solutions. Solutions that were there glaringly right in front of them. They were experiencing burnout.



This is why a small chain can tether a large elephant , because as a calf the baby elephant is conditioned to believe that fighting the chain is useless and the creature should stay put when the chain is fastened around its foot. Its burnout in childhood.  


The human animal is not much different and this is why organised religions take so much interest in the education of the young. Mass education often burns out children before they can even flower.

Have you noticed that many organisations phase out people after a particular age in spite of them being knowledgeable and experienced. Why? Because the system has burnt them out.
They are unable to cope with change and adapt.


Burnout results in people being defeated by indifference, incompetence etc. This could help explain why citizens are unmoved by harmful things like pollution, crime, corruption, violence and unresponsive organisations and governments etc. Once burnt-out people get emasculated and become docile and passive. 

This is why revolutions and changes are almost always initiated by young people that have not yet burnt-out. They do not know what they cannot do, so they often do the seemingly impossible or inconceivable.


Even for the not so young, there is hope, for humans are very resilient. 'The Yellow Vest Protest' revolution currently consuming France shows that, given enough provocation, passion can often be reignited even in Burnt-Out people. 

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Hold my hand

A little girl was walking along a path with her father when they came to a treacherous section. Instinctively the father stretched out his hand to his daughter and said; "Here hold my hand."

The daughter replied; "No dad you hold my hand."

The father was confused, "What is the difference, whether you hold my hand or I hold yours?"

The little girl smilingly said, "If I hold your hand and stumble I may let go off your hand, but if you hold my hand I know you will never ever let go."

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What a lovely narration I had received from a friend on this father's day. I called up my father to hear his voice and to tell him I loved him and how I wished I could be with him on this day.

Somewhere along the way when we tasted the fruits of success we forgot an important fact. Our achievements were the result not only of our labour but also the investment of, values, wisdom of our teachers our elders and most of all our parents in us. As long as our parents watched over us, blessed us and prayed for us we were invincible.

If put in a spiritual context I believe that each person is nurtured and protected by a protective umbrella of the blessings of our parents and God. I have personally experienced it. Soon after we let go our our parents shunned their blessings ignored their love, we as a family went into total decline. This is also experienced by many people no matter what their age is, who feel exposed and vulnerable upon the passing away of a parent or beloved elder.

Their love and blessing I always had, but I had travelled too far down the road. I worked hard to journey back over many years to become worthy of them. Now with their love, and blessings my life has blossomed once again.




As with each interaction I reflected on this issue and my mind opened a window in which I saw the image of an uncle and his tortured existence. While I am lucky to be able to serve my parents and obtain their blessings and love, a distant Uncle of mine in Thailand is not so fortunate. His parents are not with him and neither are most of his siblings.

He lost the love and blessings of his parents and all his siblings who were older than him. His material growth and his physical /emotional decline started almost 45 years ago with the complete nationalisation of all private assets by the Burmese government in 1964.

As the Burmese government nationalised everything most Indians fled Burma. My extremely wealthy and honourable grand-uncle converted his entire wealth from cash to rubies and arranged to have them smuggled them out from Burma to his youngest son in Bangkok, so that the family could start life all over again.

This uncle receive all the wealth and set up a very successful business. When his brothers escaped from Burma they called upon this uncle who turned his back on his brothers claiming that all he received was a pittance and the wealth that the brothers saw was the result of his personal hard work and therefore they could not expect anything from him.

The heartbroken brothers felt cheated by their youngest brother. They dispersed all over the world and started to rebuild their lives all over again from scratch. They had neither the time nor the energy for conflict and revenge. They simply stopped thinking of their enormous wealth and a brother, as if he never ever existed at all.

My grand-uncle was a giant of an achiever. He was brilliant and hardworking, but age was not on his side. The shock of the betrayal of his son so traumatised him that he fell ill. He passed away thirty five years ago, a sad and bitter man. On his deathbed he cursed his son; " He who has so wrongfully cheated his own family would never ever be able to enjoy the wealth that he had stolen".

It appears from visible facts that the curse has all but destroyed my uncle and his family. He who allegedly wronged his brothers fell seriously ill soon after the death of his father.

For past 30 years this uncle has lost use of his body and he lies on his bed in his fabulous mansion. Surrounded day and night by a battery of doctors and nurses with no friends nor companions. He cannot move and lies on his bed with most of the systems in his body having failed.

The puncture made in his throat by his doctors permits him to breathe and to be fed by various tubes. A sad sight he makes in addition to the almost unbearable eerie rasping noise his breathing makes.

This almost completely paralysed man my uncle, the owner of millions of dollars, but not of his own life and body. He can only move one arm. His torment is magnified by an extremely alert mind as he wallows in his misery. My uncle is prepared to give up all his wealth to make right his folly and greed, alas it is too late. His father and most of his family have passed away a long time ago. He has no one to make peace with.

I know fathers are difficult people and they exasperate us, but if we look beyond the obvious at the sublime we will catch a glimpse of our creator. So starting this father's day let us cherish our parents, tell and show them that we love them.

I have come to appreciate that we must be humble enough to overlook their weaknesses, love them for their strengths and all the goodness they have showered on us and fear them for their wrath.

I pray that all those that have the good fortune of receiving the love and blessing of your parents continue to do so, and those that have somehow lost that love and goodwill will in the coming days have the opportunity to earn their blessings and love once again.

I remember that everyday is 'Fathers Day'

Law and Disorder

                                                  LAW and DISORDER

India has always been an enigma not only to the world but even to us Indians

We are drowning in a sea of corruption, dysfunctional institutions, pathetic government and exhausted citizens.

How can there be so many problems and yet the country continues to be the second fastest growing economy in the world?

My theory of 'Law and Disorder' could help explain. The first part is given below.

We swear by democracy and feel proud that we are the largest one, but is our pride justified?  Why are we as a nation making rapid material progress and yet in plummeting morals?

One only has to take a look at the nation’s leaders; the composition of the 543 member ‘Lok Sabha’ the lower house of the Indian Parliament to get an idea;

• 6  members are currently lodged in jail.
• 29 members have been charged with spouse abuse.
• 7 members have been arrested for fraud.
• 19 members have more than three criminal cases pending against them.
• 119 members have been charged and being investigated for serious cases pending against them, these include, rape, murder, extortion and robbery.
• 71 members cannot get credit or loans due to bad credit histories.
• 21 members are currently defendants in various lawsuits.
• 84 members have been involved in serious offenses and have paid fines

More than 27% of our elected leaders are suspected or out on bail for major criminal offences. As per Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) an NGO 150 of the 543 parliamentarians have criminal charges against them. The leaders of the masses who have the responsibility for leading the country and for enforcing the law are themselves highly suspect.

It is a known fact that just as the family follows the head so do the masses follow the leaders. What the leaders project in terms of values and conduct is what the masses emulate.


This is what a large majority of our political leadership has done and continues to do. 
Why rob a nation when you can hijack it ? Increasing criminalisation of politics has permitted many unsavoury characters to hijack the nation and become the law unto themselves. Worse they have now perched themselves above the law and largely protected from investigation and prosecution, because they now control the law and order machinery.

Here are some reasons;

The political parties have sold out.

It is well known that the nominations for each candidate fielded for elections by each political party is made mainly on the basis of the highest bidder in closed auctions. This is the rule rather than the exception. As per the statement made by the chief election commissioner the average price to be paid by a candidate for securing a party nomination is Rs 5 Crores (US$ 1.1Million)

If huge money has to be spent to just get into the race for elected office, then what chance does an ordinary citizen without deep pockets or gang of goons have? Some brave or foolhardy individuals who do try to buck the system and dare to contest are threatened and sometimes killed for daring to enter the fray.

Here is a shameful example; After the Supreme Court passes embarrassing strictures against a serving union minister on a serious offence, the prime minister elevates these indicted people from rank of minister of state to full cabinet minister.

The 'Democratic' political process

On an average voting turnout is only 50% with the winning candidate securing no more than 17% of the total votes.  Majority of the middle class people do not vote.

The politicians and elected leaders.

Votes are purchased by spending obscene amounts of money and on an average each candidate has to spend Rs 10 Cr or US$s 2.25 Million).

If one is not particular about things like ethics, integrity, patriotism etc then becoming a successful politician is the most promising career nowadays. The return on investment can be phenomenal.

These elected leaders do not view their office as that of serving the people but to enrich themselves using whatever means available to them in the shortest possible time. After all elected office is an unstable position. Many elected representatives have borrowed heavily or have demanding backers and supporters whose expectations must be met.

These investor politicians set out to recoup and seek a return on the investments they or their supporters have made.

Many of the top winners of the aggressive and often violent race to office become ministers etc and head the various ministries. Starting with the Secretary all staff downwards are expected to generate a fixed target of money to be paid to the minister.


Here targets are strict and while rewards can be a plum posting and an opportunity to earn more illicit money. Any failure to achieve the targets means a punishment posting or worse framed or entrapped on grounds of some trumped up charges. A promising career of a bureaucrat can be destroyed by a mere whim or snap of the fingers.


Here management is tight and practices followed results will put many management gurus to shame. The results almost always exceed targets.

Unfortunately these management practices are not to provide good governance, or enhance the quality of life of the citizens but to merely make the entire chain of government management starting with the honourable minister or other elected representative right down to the not so lowly clerk /peon rich. They can get their share only by getting the protection and patronage of their political master or organisational senior.


Now if all these people which represent our elected leaders, appointed officers and majority of the government are engaged in all this hard work of generating money for the predators higher in the food chain, do you honestly believe they have time for governance.


It is only when a colleague is deprived of his perceived share or cut of the loot, or someone else wants to muscle in and demand some share of the spoils is that the truth is allowed to emerge. A political liability is sometimes put up for the slaughter.

We cannot all politicans and bureaucrats with the same colour. There are also good people, however the environment is too inhospitable for such good people and their percentage in the total population is shrinking rather alarmingly.

The media thrives on sensationalism and will briefly headline the crimes only to relegate them to the inner pages within a few days and forget all about it in a couple of weeks. They then jump on the next scandal of which there are umpteen, all waiting to be exposed by rival politicians and leaders at the right time. These disclosures or leaks are not to serve the cause of justice but to finish off rivals.

Democracy is the act of ruling oneself so as not to be ruled by others.


It is your solemn duty to understand your rights and responsibilities and to exercise them judiciously if you want a better future for yourself and your children. Awaken and become socially and politically active. Support good, competent and capable people who will put our nation’s interests above their own.

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If you  do not wish to belong to the hordes who merely grumble. Then you may consider joining one of several new political parties that seek to rebuild India on a clean plank.

One such party is ‘ Professionals Party of India’ www.ppi.net.in   hoping to woo large numbers of the 250 million middle class who reside mainly in urban India. As per Asian development bank projections based on current trends India's middle class will grow to 840 million people by the year 2026. PPI is betting on it's value based clean politics approach to attract this hitherto politically dormant base.

PPI is already present and active in 10 cities.  Candidates do not have to pay any money to get nominated if they are found to possess the right moral fibre with good capability and commitment.

Since candidates will attract mainly middle class votes on basis of merit they will not need obscene amounts of money and their low cost high impact campaign will be funded by PPI.
Candidates will be educated and groomed  by a group of eminent experts in a number of fields over a minimum period of 3 years. This will prepare the chosen candidates to discharge their role as responsible members of the Indian parliament of a new India.

Western Civilisation

In 1928, at a high point of the agitation for independence during British rule in India, the besieged British government received Mahatma Gandhi ji as their guest in London as the representative of the Indian people to try to resolve the crisis.

Fearless in his principles, Gandhi ji was firm but polite in his manner, disagreeing without being disagreeable. 
During an interview, a British reporter asked Gandhi ji; "What do you think of western civilisation?"

Gandhiji replied, "I think it will be a good idea."

Apparently amusing, the statement revealed an ugly facet of what is commonly misunderstood to be progress and civilisation. 

Industrialisation gave mankind a huge leap in material progress, lifting millions out of poverty and misery. Unfortunately it was mainly confined to Japan, Australia, Europe and America, placing them in a powerfully advantageous position over non industrialised nations. This led to a skewed global power balance grossly in favour of America, Europe, etc.

Power unfortunately is a dangerous addiction, and those who acquire it will try not only to maintain it but enhance it at all costs. When driven purely by greed the best of people can and often do turn savage. This is what Gandhi ji was referring to as “The Western Civilisation’. 

This civilisation led to the global destruction of indigenous cultures and their people by numerous ways. Not only justifying but legitimising slavery, colonisation, apartheid, world wars etc. 

Mindless industrialisation has exploited and ravaged the earth, despoiling lands and poisoning the air and water. The greater tragedy is not that Western civilization has fallen way short and committed great blunders, but that the other developing nations have learnt nothing from history and plunge headlong to repeat the same blunders. As the enslaved nations became free they followed the same model as the West followed, of mindless and often inappropriate industrialization. This trend has made our environment and relationships toxic. 

    

Now India and China are the fastest rising economies in GDP and sadly the most rapid in decline in quality of life. Environmental degradation and stress related diseases have reached alarming levels. 

Apparently huge material gains have been realised on the back of uncontrolled and irresponsible industrialization but at a terrible price to humanity and to the world. Many sacrifices have been made but none greater than selling our souls. 

Modern civilization has given birth to unbridled materialism. Now things matter more than people and nature. The soul after all differentiates humans from other living creatures and if our soul is lost then all is lost.

If Gandhi ji were present today he might correct himself and say “Human civilization would be a good idea.”

The root cause of the problem is greed and exploitation. Exploitation of people, and nature is always counterproductive and will always come back to haunt the exploiters and eventually harm us.

Replace exploitation by sustainability, greed by compassion, confrontation by cooperation. If we think and practice win-win approaches, respecting nature and people so that there is inclusive benefit, then we will always be winners.

  

Appearing an alarmist or a pessimist is one of the ways to appear intelligent. However that is not helpful beyond the point of drawing attention to important issues.

We often underestimate the power of 'One'. That is the ability of each individual to make a difference.  

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Appearing an alarmist or a pessimist is one of the ways to appear intelligent. However that is not helpful beyond the point of drawing attention to important issues.


We often underestimate the power of 'One'. That is the ability of each individual to make a difference.  

How would you like it?

We human beings are somewhat the same underneath these masks that we wear and the games that we play. I think it is great that we get an occasional reality check.

Inside many of us lurks a dominating bully if only we could find someone to torment. Many parents, teachers and bosses are guilty of this offense.
We accumulate our frustrations with other people and things and bring that garbage back with us, only to dump them on the people who love us most, our family and friends.
One day I got upset at a trivial act of Mohit my son who was 15 at that time. I ranted and was an inexcusably horrible person.

After 10 minutes I had physically exhausted all my frustration, but my ego made me feel that I was completely justified in my conduct. Mohit looked at me straight in the eye and asked, "Dad, how would you feel  if I spoke to you in the same manner?"

Respectfully and in one soft spoken question my son deflated me of all my toxic anger and I felt terribly stupid and deeply ashamed. I realised that day that my son had grown up into a giant of a personality whereas I felt I had somewhat shrivelled.

Tears came to my eyes and  I hugged Mohit. It was then that he broke down sobbing uncontrollably. It has been 15 years since that incident and never again did I speak with anyone again in that thoughtless and rude manner.

The child is indeed the father of man.

Remove Bullying and Destroy Corruption.

School bullies rob younger and weaker children of whatever catches their fancy, be it their lunch, toys or money. The weak and timid merely surrender whatever they have to avoid a beating or other forms of torment.
The situation is not much different for the majority of the people, for they are weak and the bullies are the bureaucrats and political leaders. In this notorious brigade one can also include police officials, teachers, purchase officers, inspectors etc in most institutions.

Not all are bad but the bullies form a dominant majority.

Nowadays no social interaction is complete without a reference to corruption.
Everyone protests and I am flooded with emails asking us to protest and support Anna Hazare etc. Everyone expects that this social activist’s efforts at getting the right legislation passed by parliament after 42 years will free us from the heavy yoke of our own government's corruption. While this is a significant move, it is sadly just a minuscule step in putting the evil genie of corruption back into the lamp. Talk s cheap and assuages our feeling of guilt that while we complain we do nothing. Well conceived strategies and plans implemented sincerely by committed people only will yield results.
Here are some thoughts on the analysis and some proposed solutions if carried out by the second wave of mass protests led by people like Mr. Hazare will solve a lot.

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People love to attack the symptom rather than the disease. The root cause of the disease of corruption, is the massive number of laws vesting dangerous punitive powers in almost every officer in the government. Even the junior-most officer can put in jail any member of the public with a snap of their fingers. Another root cause is the ability to obstruct normal personal, social and business life. The harried citizens have to spend huge resources of money and time in legal fees, bribes and the courts to prove their innocence or to get what is rightly due to them as envisaged in our constitution.


To make matters worse there is no system to redress complaints of the people. Where and to whom can the frustrated and exhausted citizen turn to?
In addition to throwing the legal book at citizens , many government officials cruelly leverage the media to their advantage and hammer the oppressed people by issuing malicious statements in the newspapers and television about the person being charged with some offense or the other.
Often destroying reputations and lives thoughtlessly, the media's focus unfortunately has shifted from providing balanced news to entertainment, and nothing entertains more than the whiff of scandal.


Preventing corruption is better than trying to cure it. Here are some ways to mitigating the menace of corruption;

1. Reduce discretionary and instant punitive powers of individual officers by 95%.
2. Introduce an effective system to redress complaints of the citizens and this should form part of the senior officers duties and action taken must be open to public scrutiny.
3. Various and relevant trade associations, guilds and organisations working in tandem with the various bar councils review ALL laws over the next five years and withdraw, modify or add laws that are needed. More than 70% of the laws are irrelevant or outdated and unduly complex and sometimes even convoluted.
4. Introduce universally that unless genuine and valid objections are raised applications to government departments and officers will be deemed to be automatically sanctioned for most routine things.

Reduce the powers of government and other officers to bully, that is to act arbitrarily to arrest people, shut down businesses, etc for most matters and instead follow a system of due process of law. The offender should be given a notice and permitted to defend themselves.

It must be appreciated that bullies are impatient people and pursue instant gratification. Deny them this right to bully, harass, obstruct and destroy and most of the frivolous or mischievous cases of harassment will die a natural death.

True, a few offenders may escape the net of the law but surely a countless more innocents will also escape the harassment of corrupt officials.