Change - Can we???

Was watching Rang de Basanti Salaam yesterday in which some brave souls – some living and some departed were shown. The last one was Manjunath who gave up his life fighting the oil mafia and corruption in UP.
I also met some school friends and we were debating on Gandhian values, bribery, corruption etc. One of my friends, while referring to Chanakya Neeti remarked that we need to act according to the situation. E.g if you don’t have time and want a job get done- let’s say a license made- which can be done be done easily be shelling out some moolah – then take that option else if you have time – then do it yourself.
What will you prefer – generally the 1st one.
Now I come back to Manjunath’case. He knew that it was life threatening to take the path he took. So would it have been better to go along the mafia – turn a blind eye and let things happen?? And what difference did his death make? The malpractice must have stopped for 1 week .. 2 weeks… a month.!!!
As DJ says in RDB- “zindagi jeene ke 2 hi tareeke hain – ya jo ho raha hai hone do.. ya fir zimmedaari uthao usse badalne ki”.
People like Manju – did take the responsibility. Bringing it down to a small scale. If I get caught jumping a red light – will I try to bribe the havaldaar Rs 100 or prefer getting a challan for Rs 300. Ask yourself. More often than not anyone will choose bribing. The so called chankanyaneeti comes in.
Is it good? For us – yes. May be we are saving our Rs 200 or may be our life. We are not taking the responsibility to change as Manju did – because we see that it didn’t make a difference.
But how can we just assume that it won’t change without giving it a try? May be the death of 1 Manju didn’t make a difference. But what if every person who takes his seat also takes his path? Don’t you think something will change? How many people can the mafia kill without coming into notice.
All of us may not become Manjunaths and have the courage to lay our lives but in some small ways we can contribute to a change. And I say it again. WE CAN!!!
Why not try and be a maverick and don’t do what others do.
On a personal front, I have decided on 1 thing. I will not be giving a bribe in future.
And if that day comes when I break this vow, I will come here and tell about it. It’s a promise.

P.S: a definition of bribery may cover a lot of things. But here I would stick to the general definition we know – Monetary benefits to do some favor which is unlawful.