It is 2011 and just a year and nine months to go if we believe the 2012 doomsayers. Better late than never, say I and push my viewpoints to the world.
What qualifies me as a Cynic and an Indian Cynic at that, is the general disenchantment and frustration I feel every moment of my life living in Hyderabad, pompously called the IT hub, and grandly misnamed as the city of pearls. It should instead be called the city of the disappearing lakes. Many neighbourhoods are called baghs (gardens) and it is well on its way to become a Modern Sahara desert. Yet I am proud to call it home, so much so that I never felt tempted to abandon it for any other place.
According to the latest census, Indian is now officially 1.2 billion strong. There is a marginal drop in the rate of population growth and girl babies lost at the first trimester.I do feel very proud to be a fan of a mercurial cricket team that is a step away from repeating its triumph of 1983. but more important to me is the rather cavalier way our major parties are playing the pass the buck when it comes to corruption. The figures bandied about are mind boggling. Lakhs of crores of rupees lost in the labyrinth of foreign banks that rightfully belongs to us Indians. People who become rich by questionable means are lionised in the media, specially on Television, so much so that the aam aadmi feels they must be right.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar envisaged a system of checks and balances under the Constitution so that wrongdoing can be checked. But when lawmakers and lawbreakers collude and the government looks the other way, nothing can be set right. Corrption is now institutionalised and fiercely protected. Whistleblowers are killed or intimidated. The chalta hai attitude is creeping up to the very top. Thanks to the Supreme Court, we still have a chance.
The Indian Penal Code needs a drastic reform and the penalties be made harsher and justice must be quicker.Only when justice is quickly delivered will the message percolate that crime does not pay.
What qualifies me as a Cynic and an Indian Cynic at that, is the general disenchantment and frustration I feel every moment of my life living in Hyderabad, pompously called the IT hub, and grandly misnamed as the city of pearls. It should instead be called the city of the disappearing lakes. Many neighbourhoods are called baghs (gardens) and it is well on its way to become a Modern Sahara desert. Yet I am proud to call it home, so much so that I never felt tempted to abandon it for any other place.
According to the latest census, Indian is now officially 1.2 billion strong. There is a marginal drop in the rate of population growth and girl babies lost at the first trimester.I do feel very proud to be a fan of a mercurial cricket team that is a step away from repeating its triumph of 1983. but more important to me is the rather cavalier way our major parties are playing the pass the buck when it comes to corruption. The figures bandied about are mind boggling. Lakhs of crores of rupees lost in the labyrinth of foreign banks that rightfully belongs to us Indians. People who become rich by questionable means are lionised in the media, specially on Television, so much so that the aam aadmi feels they must be right.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar envisaged a system of checks and balances under the Constitution so that wrongdoing can be checked. But when lawmakers and lawbreakers collude and the government looks the other way, nothing can be set right. Corrption is now institutionalised and fiercely protected. Whistleblowers are killed or intimidated. The chalta hai attitude is creeping up to the very top. Thanks to the Supreme Court, we still have a chance.
The Indian Penal Code needs a drastic reform and the penalties be made harsher and justice must be quicker.Only when justice is quickly delivered will the message percolate that crime does not pay.
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