August Kranti

Only a life lived for others is worth living - Albert Einstein.

Anna Hazare. You can like him, hate him but cannot ignore him. Will Anna Hazare be the person who brings down Dr.Manmohan Singh? Honestly, I am waiting for Dr.MMS to drop his facade and say: "Enough is Enough. I am sick of being a person who can make no decision". What else can you expect from our ageing Prime Minister? I felt angered when Loh Pursuh LK Advani called Dr.MMS a weak PM. The whole nation was aghast when this tirade went on. But now, the entire nation says in unsion that our PM is not the person we expected him to be.

In the past 48 hours, the Central Government has come across as being powerful, authoritarian, confused, afraid, and stupid in front of world's second most populous nation. The Government has tried every trick in its bag to prevent Anna Hazare's movement, with little success. Had it ignored Anna Hazare and let him begin his fast, this movement might have fizzled out. No, they never learn from past mistakes. They made Baba Ramdev a hero by scooping down on his protest and now they have made Anna Hazare a Goliath, with the heart of David!

But unlike Baba Ramdev, Anna's protest is seeing unprecedented support from public, on its own. It is heart warming and totally shocking to see that the "Aam Admi" (this word being the only success of UPA) support swell for Anna and his team. All of us are feeling the effect of a corrupt system. We never raised our voice as we had our lives to lead.

No change is possible unless there are sacrifices. We need not look beyond our own struggle for freedom. We all know that Corruption is rampant and we have come to accept it as a way of our lives. The powers that be have also ensured that we live in a country where action against a corrupt minister takes years to come where as Police action against an activist can happen in 3 minutes. Irony is that both are lodged in the same prison. So, basically we are 1) Afraid to dirty our hands 2) Lack that conviction to see things to its logical end and 3) Lack that guidance for fighting against the system.

Now that Anna Hazare has emerged as that leader, the Government is in a fix. This government appears to be the most corrupt one since Independence and that must be rankling high on their minds. With the leader, starts a movement and with the movement starts a following. In the new age, Twitter trending shows the popularity of a person or an incident and certainly Anna Hazare seems to be red hot, so hot that the Government cannot handle. The Delhi Police must be at its wits end having to act as errand boys for the power corridors.

Maybe the Jasmine Revolution has reached Indian shores. This is not what our country needs. Dr.MMS should take moral responsibility for what is happening. I cannot believe this is the same person who gave economic freedom to India is now stifling the right to lead a corruption-free existence. Well, if things have come to this level, then Dr.MMS is surely responsible for this fiasco. Cutting up of the Indian Melon aka the License Raj has enabled corruption to take strong roots in India. Being the architect of our economic freedom, Dr.MMS is also responsible for its side effect: Rampant Corruption. I am sure after this term gets over (hopefully soon), Dr.MMS will come out with an autobiography or an authorized biography stating how helpless and singled out he was in all his decisions and that given a chance might like to redo or undo certain decisions.

Its things like these make me believe in proverbs like No use crying over spilt milk etc. Like Russel Peters says: "Some body gonna get real hurt today. Be a Man" Its time that our ruling powers wake up and face the nation like Men. If you are so sure of your decisions, dissolve the government, take moral responsibility for huge corruption in the country, cleanse your party and face fresh elections with relatively cleaner candidates. If you come out honest, we will support you too.

Quid pro quo. Game?

Till then, its high five to Team Anna. I think he is now following Gandhiji's words: Be the Change you want to see.

PS: This protest has not caused any problems in the stock market, Infact, Sensex has gone up by 110 points today. So our India Story is unshakable just that the side effects are starting to kick in big time!