Dear Justice Verma

I would like to begin my email with thanking you. I dont know what the outcome of your effort will be but thank you for even making this effort. At least this time, its not all talk but some attempt at doing something definitive.

I dont think we need reforms ONLY in rape/ molestation cases but in the fundamental way our society approaches human life and crime.

For this, I recommend the following;

1) Immediate resignation of ALL politicians that have any criminal record against them in the last 8 years. Those that are criminals themselves cannot save us from crimes

2) Weightage driven voting system - 1 urban vote should have more weightage than a rural vote. The days of politicians buying out their votes by means of 1 bottle alcohol and 1 packet of biryani need to end. This will also encourage urban people to vote as currently we anyway feel that our votes will be outnumbered by bought out votes

3) Immediate suspension of any politician that makes an insensitive, ill informed statement about any issue that concerns us, our country, our interests,

4) Police to be paid better and made more accountable and sensitive. Formal monthly forums where public can meet the right people from police at a common place to understand what police has been doing over the last one month and to place any grievances they might have, in a public forum. Every city to have these forums where the distance between the police and the aam aadmi is reduced and more interaction facilitated.

I truly believe the above will go a long way for us as a country apart from the many many other suggestions that might be pouring in. If there is anything I can do, along with my friends, in my city, to see any of the suggestions be brought to life, I assure you, we are in. As a sensitive citizen of this country, I would like to do my bit.

Early morning disgust

You go to bed with a heavy heart and hope for change but you wake up to articles as these that kill your hopes. There are so many of us united right now.

Why don't we make tangible demands?

Lets demand for resignation of all those in power with criminal backgrounds. 2/3rd of our MLAs have crimes registered against them, rape being one of the highest. We cannot expect criminals to resolve issues around crime so lets ask for them to step down NOW.

Lets also ask for immediate suspension of any one in power that makes idiotic, insensitive statements, esp about women. This needs to stop! Its like providing solace to the rapists and almost justifying their acts. We want to teach the aam aadmi with rape tendencies a lesson? Start with the netas, let them lead by example. Why boycott Republic Day, our national anthem, our flag, our remanant patriotism? Boycott those that mock our pride, not pride itself.

Channelize please.....

Anger. Lots of it. Let's channelise it right. I would urge each man (and women too) to resolve the following........

We will NOT differentiate between pink and blue, between cars and dolls the moment a child opens its eyes to this world.

We will NOT allow for women to be objectified.

We will teach our immediate society to respect people for persons that they are and not because of their gender.

We will NOT let eve teasing in public pass our notice. Come on guys, use your head, the actual one....you have that too you know.

Who are these men anyway?

Of course punishment is a must. They must be taught a lesson.

But what if these rapists were a politician's sons? Would those in power have still maintained that severest of punishment will be awarded?

What if the rapists were family, which indeed is very common in our society. Would then the cry for justice have even escaped from the four walls of the victim's house?

There is an uproar that the victim could have been anyone, you, me. I would like to remind us all that the rapists also could have been anyone from amongst us. It's not some special breed of men but men from amongst all of us.

Punishment is a must but at the same time, a change in mind set, a change in how men treat women, in how society views women is needed urgently. It's not going to happen over night but it needs to start sometime. Now is a good time.

Why are we shocked really?

Why are we 'shocked' that Nirbhaya is no more? She died a long time back. She died at the hands of those 6 bas*****. She died again when insensitive idiots made statements like 'women invite rape' or 'she should not have resisted rape'. She died when our politicians used this opportunity yet again to gain political mileage. She died when rape reports kept flooding in even as she was in the hospital and the protests were on. Medically too, all that was left of her was her body with no intestines and failed organs.

Really what are we shocked about?

What we should be worried about is that time and again, we wait to incidents to happen to awaken our apparent conscience. 26/11, Jessica Lal, Nirbhaya now......and yet from tomorrow, the eve teasers will be back on the streets. The Khaps will continue to reign in their miserable power. The rapists will continue seeking their next target. Women will continue wearing burkas, in real and in symbolism too. Some women will continue to remain women's worst enemies. Personally, I don't only blame the government.

I don't only blame the police. I blame all of us. Each time there has been an eve teasing incident, why do the passers by not step up then and there? Why do I have to hang my head in shame as if somehow I am the one who has shamed society and not the other way around? Why do I have to face the momentary stigma because I was wronged? Why dont all those hundreds of people around me join hands to tell off the eve teasers so that the next time, the wrong doers are first scared of society and then the police?

So really, why are "we" shocked? Why are we not shocked when society calls women the weaker sex, even the fairer sex - the mere comparison makes one lesser than the other.

 I don't know about you, but I will try to act brave in my everyday life, not just towards myself but every injustice that I encounter. I will encourage my brother, my friends to do the same. In the hope that it's not another gruesome incident that I wil have to wait for to ignite my fighter-spirit, to make me realise that any change can not wait for political reforms or for police to be present at every nook and corner that I visit. Change will happen when we decide for it to happen.

Crimes will not stop because of FEAR of later possible punishment. No. Crimes will be curbed when people are made to understand the heinous-ness of wrong acts, when they are educated about everybody's equal right to live, when LIVE AND LET LIVE drives our society and not the greed for power.

Is Aarakshan possible in Corruption?

Education is the best business today - dialogue from Aarakshan.
Corruption is the best practice - mentality of most humans

I just watched Aarakshan. Its a movie about how corruption has seeped into something as noble as education as well. Future of Young India is decided by those who have money and those who would go to any lengths to make money. The movie had all the regular subjects that would complete a typical Prakash Jha syllabus. But the after taste of this movie, as is with most such kind of movies, felt a bit unreal, stretched beyond the realms of practicality.

For example, one man standing against the entire system comprised of education big-wigs, politicians, police and running a parallel education system in a satyagraha kind of way would seem rather impractical and far removed from reality.

Immediately after watching the movie, my mom told me of an incident that has left me sad, angry and yet again, cynical. When in Chennai, she used to teach at one of the most prestigious schools of the city. The school had an impeccable reputation and prided itself for being a non-biased school. Only the really good students got in and all of them passed out as even better students. No donation, no reservation, no reference was known to work at school.

Today mom told me a story of how the answer sheet of an influential man's son was changed during board exams!!!!!! Apparently when the answer sheet was collected and taken to the staff room, all teachers were asked to leave. The student was called in, his paper removed from the bunch and he was made to correct/ fill in all the answers that he had written wrongly or left incomplete. And we are talking here of 12th standard Board Exams!!!!!!! He was the son of a movie star! How does he even care about marks? Its not clear whether this was done under pressure from the father or by the school to protect its own reputation of being the number 1 with no failures ever.

Either way, I am disgusted. My mom quit the school soon after but that is all she could do. She is a common (wo)man. She didn't know any better. She was no Big B who challenged the whole system and got the entire city together to stand united for a tangible common cause.

She also told me of the time when she heard of the principle taking bribe from a student, of him having his son being taught by my mom and thus telling my mom to make exceptions with his son. And the same principle orating profuse speeches during the assembly, coaxing young students to always chose the right path, by being the mentor to young impressionable minds! Such double standards!

Today the nation is a-buzz with chants of Anna Hazare. The timing of me watching the movie was bang on. As I sat in the theater watching the movie unfold and thinking to myself, "Oh its just a movie and no common man can give in to the political pressure, blackmail and avoid the dirt of corruption", I was immediately reminded that right now, at this very moment, one man in India has done exactly this. Anna Hazare has done what most movies have shown year after year, the rise of a common man against the powerful, dirty, loathing political system.

You know how thoughts are - contradicting, conflicting all the time. I have not been a supporter of the Anna Movement that India witnessed in the last few days. I don't mean I have been against the man himself, on the contrary, I applaud the spirit of the man for having brought the whole country together the way he did. No news of violence anywhere, people fasting in support, people taking to the streets day after day, it was all really really fantastic. My grouse has been with the unprecedented support and hype that the movement got. Like my friend Arundhati Ghosh mentioned in her article, my grouse has been against the externalization of corruption. And it remains thus.

The whole country is joyous with what is being called the Anna-pendence Day. People are on the roads celebrating today like its a festival. They say Indian has won today.

I wish I could be a part of this celebration too. I wish I could feel the way the whole country is feeling today. But I don't.

My mother supports Anna Hazare. With a hope that tomorrow will come a day when she and many like her will be able to openly oppose corruption. After days of speculation I have understood that the masses are supporting the cause because they think that with the Lokpal Bill, corruption will find a punishment center, a court where justice will be granted.

But who will justice be granted to against whom? The school principle who accepted bribes for personal gain or the teachers who were forced to change the answer sheet of a film star's son? Will justice be done for people who pay bribes for convenience or will justice be done to those who are forced to pay bribes because there is no other option?

Corruption seems to have touched everyone of us, in some way of the other. There are times when we have been a part of it and then there are times when we have been spectators to it. And today is a time when we are protesters against it. But the actual revolution will happen when we decide to change our own ways so that we, in no way, allow ourselves to be perpetrators of it.

Ann-a-other day has gone by, but Picture abhi baaki hai!

So - I haven't been watching TV over the last few days. There is no reason to watch TV anyway. Nothing new seems to be happening. Except for Anna completed one more day of fasting. Team Anna in a deadlock with the Government. Anna Hazare is the 2nd Gandhi. His health is ok. And so on and so forth.

I haven't attempted reading news papers either. Whats the point. XYZ people formed human chains. ABC are fasting along with Anna. Lakhs of people hit the streets to be a part of this new revolution. Young and old join hands in unity to create history.

So in a nut shell, Anna is the 2nd Gandhi and the entire country is supporting him in order to feel like they are a part of something larger than life. So what really is going on in India? A patriotic Bollywood movie with all its masala. And to spice up the masala, throw in a Baba Ramdev as well - its almost a complete entertainer. And maybe that is what it is after all.

All of India's middle class is apparently out on streets in support of Anna Hazare. And I really commend the man for being able to garner the support that he has. I really salute the man for having been able to stir an otherwise indifferent lazy nation. But it also gives me cause for concern. The middle class that is supporting him, is it really "supporting" him or is this just another vent for their frustration that they face in their daily lives? Like in the movie 'A Wednesday', the frustrated common man had taken to an extreme step to vent his frustration, isn't this looking like a similar movie, albeit a non violent one?

Is the Indian Middle Class today willing to eradicate corruption from the root level? Sure we would all be happier if we did not have to bribe the useless babus, cops etc etc. But do we wonder why they have gotten used to taking bribes in the first place? What is corruption and to what level is it prevalent, have we stopped to wonder?

Incident: A friend of mine has his BBM updates around Anna. "I support Anna Hazare". "I too want a corruption free India". "Anna Hazare, we are with you". The other day he and I were going to somewhere and he wanted to enter the club from the back gate. We pointed out that its not allowed. His response "Arrey I'll just give the guard 50 bucks and he will let us enter"!!!!! Now this is a good friend of mine so I am not passing any judgement but all Im saying is that there really seems to be no merit to this 'andolan'. The common man supporting this cause does NOT understand the damn cause. On argument with my friend he said, "chota mota corruption chalta hai. We need to fight it at the top level'. I am sorry but I don't get it. If we are corrupt at our level, woh chalta hai?

And in his words was possibly the voice of all those lakhs of people who are out on the streets supporting Anna Hazare. I get a feeling, we all want a clean system without wanting to change our own ways. Thats chicken and egg situation, is it not?

Another friend argued with me, "The system needs to change if corruption needs to end". What system are be talking about? A system that is comprised of people. And as long as there are people in a position of power, there is bound to be "temptation" to give in to easier ways of life. So eradicating corruption is like saying we want to fight with one of the 7 sins that are intrinsic to human psyche. Who is to say that the committees that will be set up for the Lokpal Bill over years will not give in to this human psyche. It took a Spider Man to live his life based on "With great power comes great responsibility". In today's world, "with great power comes great opportunity to misuse it", isn't it?

People say that for the time being, a shake up was required to bring this rotting topic of corruption to focus. Great that it has been. What next? The Jan Lokpal Bill has many a loop holes and honestly, I am sick and tired of committees and panels and bills and more people being given power to govern me, administer me, watch me all the damn time. I do not choose to have more people in power and thus be given to the temptation.

Having said all of the above and not being a part of this mass-ive movement and almost being cynical to all of this (rare for me to not be moved by the goings on of my country), I must admit I am humbled by the man Anna Hazare. There must be something in him that wasn't there in Irom Sharmila that has managed to get him the mass support and not her. There must be something about this man that has attracted the common man and the non to common man (aka Rajnikanth, Lata Mangeshkar, Om Puri and the likes) to extend their support to him.

I wonder and then I wonder why my heart is not into this. I don't have answers, just speculations. Speculations that oscillate from wondering why a noble man would call himself 2nd Gandhi to why is Team Anna allowing the likes of Baba Ramdev to bask in the limelight, to wondering why the insistence to "pass" the bill as opposed to "lets talk about it" and to wondering whether this is blackmail or not. And as I wonder, I come across this (the link below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4zRHEw21h8&feature=share

It could be a government conspiracy to malign this noble man or it could be the truth behind the scenes. I do not think the man's credibility ought to be doubted but at the same time, when its a movie, a Bollywood one at that, who is to say what is truth and what is far from truth?

Maybe he is real or maybe he is a damn good marketing campaign that has caught the fancy of the nation. Time will tell and we all will wait and watch.