The murky world of politics and the people who make it murkier...

The elections are over, results are out and we now know who is going to "rule" India for the next five years... forget the fact that in a democracy, people are the rulers. The results were really unexpected and truly, I can say money power has won over anything else. I had a personal experience of a guy canvassing for a particular party right inside the polling station with no one around to check him. Similarly, I have heard numerous stories of people being bribed for voting to a particular party (the same one referred above). I also want to mention an interesting piece whereby a sitting MP and cabinet minister was trailing till about 3 PM, but suddenly announced winner at 5.00 PM. 

 

All the incidents above might immediately start a chain of discussions how the world of politics is murky and how politicians, true to their names, are blood sucking insects. But at a deeper level, who is responsible for all this? Don’t the politicians and their families form part of the population index in India? Go ahead and blame a group of greedy and unscrupulous people. But looking back, how different are they from us? Yeah they bribed people into voting for a particular party, but who accepted the bribes and voted for that party? Yeah people were canvassing for a particular party inside the polling station, but what connection does this guy have with the lok sabha? Isn’t this guy part of the same population that deplores politicians? Yeah a union minister's election did look every bit orchestrated, but who was finally responsible for showing the figures? Wasn’t this guy also part of the same population that despite politicians? 

 

The blame can keep going up and above and still further up and reach god. But every level is made up of "people" and it is people who make up democracy. We all love to be part of a mature society, but society is made of people. If society has to mature, people have to and their thinking has to. As long as we have people who are prepared to compromise long term implications for short term benefits, be rest assured that we are not going to see a developed India by 2020. I just hope Mr.Abdul Kalam is no more by then - I don’t want a great thinker to see his dreams fall flat. 

 

And I know this is going way tooooooooo long, but I just can’t hold my frustration. Mumbai saw the worst terror attacks in recent times but the voting percentage there was in the 40's. I know I'm asking for too much, but can't a majority of Indians start thinking that we all have to live a honest life irrespective of the losses and rejoice the benefits from it. And I might start sounding like a philosopher now, but honestly, I don’t think we are going to have a mature society as long as we don’t collectively think greed should only be satisfied ethically. I honestly don’t see it happening in the near future. And as I type these words in, I can’t but reflect on all the ways I have contributed to corruption in this country. I hope things turn better for our next generation atleast. I promise I will work with anyone who wants to.