Tuesday, October 03, 2006

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.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice post... and nice decision. I am sure you will not have to break your vow.
I had followed Manju episode quite closely, as some of my seniors were his friends. I was very sorry to learn that nothing has happened on that front after a brief flurry, and I hope more people will have strength to do what he did. (And I am aware that sounds extremely hypocritical)

KT said...

well the decision is definitely a nice one....

although out of practicality I really doubt that I can make such a decision and can mainatain it....

but anyways I think it will be more interesting if you post your subsequent experiences...

SiD said...

@fleiger: thanks !!yes, he was indeed a brave soul.. and I salute him and really hope that people get inspired!!!
Lets hope for the best...

@KT:
I will indeed post my experiences..
but u say it may not be a practical decision .. initially i also thought that it was a emotional decision... but see.. u say this is practical.. but why can't our mindset change to consider not giving bribe a practical thing??? jUst a thought to ponder over!!!!

Anonymous said...

Best luck...
And btw, I don't think Chanakyaniti advocates bribery. I don't think Chanakya meant Chandragupta to go and shell out some mudras to get a license to drive a ratha when he said that. I guess he was talking about things like gathering info by spies, or keeping your courtiers and others happy... Correct me if I am wrong, don't have the book handy (referring to book on Chanakya, not original Chanakyaniti)

SiD said...

@fleiger:
I have not read Chanakyaneeti - myself..
what i have heard from a friend - It doesnt advocate bribery.. but it does say that if the suitaution demands you have to pay.. to get some work done - then you shud..
its something like kaam, daam, dand.. and 1 more thing..
i.e if you can do kaam, then do it.. if the solution can be got from daam(paying ) - then chose that option... basically chosing what is best for YOU at that moment..
But acc to me that is changing yourself acc to the situation.. what if we change the situation according to us???

Cuckoo said...

Congrats for such a lovely post. Believe me, you have once again snatched the topic from me! Thanks!
On Sunday I was with a family in their car, they broke the signal, the traffic policeman came, they bribed him and went ahead. All steps followed in usual seq without any change. I immediately thought of writing about it. Good that you did it. :))

I don't know anything about Manjunath. Now I think I would like to know. Any directions?

I can't say I have never given a bribe (I don't remember actually) but I am one of those who TRY not to give bribe and almost always have to face the consequences. Be it the person who deals with our I-Tax returns, or for driving license, or for voters id-card, in hospitals.. Everytime I had to face the unwanted delay & anxiety.

I have neither made any promises for this, nor going to make one but I'll always try my best in my small way continuing what I like to do. And I don't care when I am called rebellious.

Anonymous said...

@Sid: I knew Kautilya was the one for cutting corners, but I don't think he would advocate that... I mean, think of consequences of bribery when seen from the PoV of the King (to make it easy, just check on the net how much income government loses due to corruption). He would have cottoned on it pretty easily. Must read the quote to check in what context it is said...

@Cuckoo: Here's a good post about Manjunath case
http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/2005/11/bye-machan.html

You can follow up on the same blog about subsequent actions, like this
http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/2005/11/please-make-it-count.html

The friends of Manjunath had started a blog called "Remembering Manjunath", but there is some problem with that site I think....

SiD said...

@cuckoo: ohh.. I am snatching ideas from LJ - the jasoos.. cant believe i am that smart..heheheh..
on a serious note.. had been thinking abt this for sometime.. and after watching it on TV - gave me some motivation to write and act..!!!
and yes.. we must try to do whatever we can - be it anything small or big.. afterall bond boond se hi sagar bharta hai...
thanks to fleiger for giving the links.. i was trying to find the mail in which these links had come.. but cudn't..

@fleiger: yes.. it may well be the case that the interpretation is wrong..
but he may not be preaching people to do it.. may be he practiced this with other kings or while dealing with people.. and MAY BE after his retirement when he wrote that book where he revealed it.. again it would be wrong on my part to comment anything without reading... guess i need to update the "next planned" section on my blog!! :)

Anonymous said...

He didn't write the book after retirement. I think, he wrote it when he was fired or even before starting his job when he was a prof...

And slightly offtopic now, I just got a mail from a friend which contains all the tunes played on DD of ol'. That contained the title music of the series "Chanakya", among others(Others being "Bharat Ek Khoj", "Ek titli, anek titaliyan", "Mahabharat" etc etc.). it's great...

Ok, back to topic now, I think the criminals in Manju case ran away from jail. Any updates?

bharath mukkati said...

I remember the manjunath case. It is very heart crunching one. Its hard to be what you propose in your blog. Its hard to go against the 'system' what it is right now. But its possible if you really think you can do it.

Appreciate your views Sid! and appreciate your vow too! I am sure you will set an example.

SiD said...

@bharath: thanks.. but I think a collective effort is needed..
therefore I hope that who ever reads this blog.. can also contribute in this vow.. i am not saying that everybody also promises.. but atleast try!!
as I said WE can do it!!

Anonymous said...

Read this...
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1056700

SiD said...

@fleiger: This was on the front pages of newspapers here...
This shows that there is high corruption because people are willing to pay it..

Anonymous said...

Bit of a vicious cirle then... As the article says, complaining against the corrupt persons might involve a "tip" to the authorities to do something, which kind of kills the point of anti-corruption initiatives.

BTW, I scanned the internet on the subject of Chanakya and bribery when I was bored yesterday. Some gems await... Maybe later though.

Cuckoo said...

Hey, will comment later when I get time to go thru all the links provided here. :P

SiD, I am with you as I already said earlier. I am doing my bit here w/o any promises to anyone, not even to me.

SiD said...

@fleiger: waiting for the gems...
and yes.. its a kind of vicious circle... it breaks - that is the hope I have!!

@cuckoo: u dont need to do any promises here... just be true to urself..and do what ur heart says is correct!!

Cuckoo said...

That's what I do always!!! :)))