I changed my mind, I support Anna

I am generally a little slow in getting things so it was not surprising that I couldn’t understand why many people like me (same socio-economic background & age) and even some middle aged people were following Anna like sheep following a shepherd.

Then one day, right in front of my office building in Gurgaon’s Cyber City, I saw this crowd of 200 odd people (regular corporate slaves like me) carrying on a procession with flags and slogans in favour of Anna.

I still couldn’t get it.

I heard comments from fellow cynics:

“They are foolish.”

“How can corruption be removed, it is so ingrained in our society.”

“If everyone stops taking bribe, automatically corruption will end.”

“Lokpal is not feasible, it is a very impractical idea.”

“What if Lokpals are corrupted & coerced?”

“What they are asking for is change of the WHOLE SYSTEM, which is not possible.”

“Anna’s vision is very limited. This movement will achieve nothing.”

Incidentally, I found that the most ardent supporters of Anna were students and generally youngsters who are still in early 20s. These young men & women (a lot of whom are at Tihar or Ramlila Maidan right now) are those who have not yet been made ‘cynical beyond repair’ because of their ‘knowledge’ & ‘experience’. They (unlike us) still have HOPE. They still BELIEVE that change is possible.

Yes, they may not see that this is only a small beginning. That what we are opening is the legendary ‘pandora’s box’ which will slowly encompass everything & everyone we know and if it goes all the way, it will change EVERYTHING. How we live, what we do, where we work….availability of food, clothing, shelter….EVERYTHING. And yes, it will take a very long time. May be a few years..may be a decade..may be more…

The reason I say this is because CORRUPTION starts at an individual and it is such individuals who make governments & systems (the economic system is a vital subset of the same). And when you want to end CORRUPTION..you also have to end YOUR OWN CORRUPTION. You have to end all those THOUGHTS, WORDS & ACTIONS which are CORRUPT. I am sure everyone remembers the famous words of Gandhi which are printed in large across the Mumbai International Airport, “Become the change you want to see.”

Now let us pause for a moment at the word CORRUPT. To begin with let us look at some synonyms:

Immoral, Unethical, Dishonest, Debase…..

Suddenly, what you are looking at becomes a struggle against not just the government/system but against HUMAN NATURE. Against your own frailties, weaknesses, desires…

A struggle you fight everyday. A struggle which began the day you became sentient and will last until you leave the terra firma…

At this point, a lot of my fellow cynics will completely give up all hope and choose to ignore Anna and even confront those who even take his name. Because the effort to CHANGE OUR OWN SELVES is OUR BIGGEST FEAR.

It might seem however that change is a completely bottom-up process dependent only on individuals and requires no leadership. However, the whole of human history bears testimony that all major changes in history have been led by iconic personalities and have also been to a large extent top-down. Gandhi is a prime example. Yes, a balance is needed between the rights & duties of an individual vs. a leader but essentially BOTH are needed.

The young 20 something standing outside Tihar (after having bunked his classes at DU..may be for days in a row) is perhaps as important as Anna who leads the pack. Anna might not stay till the end of the movement. May be a Kejriwal or a new Anna shall take over the reins…but the crowd will always remain, it is THEY who give the movement its momentum.

Before I end this rather long monologue, there are a couple more points which I’d like to raise about Anna’s movement, which I think are important:

1. I do not remember a movement in the history of modern India where educated urbanites have been the heart of the “crowd”. Our politicians have always used the fact that “democracy counts hands not heads” to their best advantage. But today we have Delhi students (many from very good socio-economic backgrounds and well aware of the world & its happenings), academicians, even some MPs of the current government, MNC employees raising their voice in favour of Anna….across India and at times in posh markets & RWAs. Definitely this cynical (& definitely not easy to motivate) lot must have seen some truth & potential in Anna’s movement. Even if this is a humble beginning, they perhaps realize that “boond boond se ghada bharta hai” and have the patience & faith required to last the entire duration of the movement (however long it may take).

2. In our DEAD DEMOCRACY, where educated people had even stopped voting (for want of any good candidate or political party), suddenly this educated urban bunch is following a 70 something Gandhian whose only major claim to fame is making few villages self-sustained (as dreamed by Gandhi & his Gram Swaraj) and who has spent most of his life among villagers solving basic problems of food, clothing & shelter rather than our suave Manmohans, Chidambarams & Rahul Gandhis (all of whom are educated from prestigious Ivy Leagues universities in US or UK) and who have much more “knowledge” & “experience”…..quite like our cynical lot (like you & me) who laugh off Anna & supporters like a joke or worse…a nuisance.