Amidst the dying protests and memories from the December 2012 ‘nirbhaya’ rape case comes news of another such horrendous incident- the rape of a 5 year old. Citizen India has lapped the weekend to stage another round of protests and candle vigils. Intentions not to be doubted, it is a bad coincidence that the same week also saw the death of another woman in Jaipur, due to a road accident. At that time though, no one turned up to help her husband as he begged for help on the road. Candle light vigils and protests are a far more convenient and easy method of displaying support and good intentions, helping someone on the ground is a different game altogether.
This week also saw a couple of other events, largely overshadowed by the anti-rape protests- Gold fell to a new mega low and the rupee depreciated a bit more. Both these are perceived as good signs because they tent to bring our current account deficit down big time. However, I am sure that in the times of inflation % of over 8, the common Indian man, like I am, is not too pleased with any of this.
I believe, our nation today is standing on the cusp of a potential revolution- A CIVIL one at that. We are the ones that pioneered the concept of peaceful protests to achieve big results, although the last of that happened more than 65 years ago. What are the main trigger points that lead to a revolution?
1) The situation: This is as bad as it can get. Yes there are pieces of good things as well, but the mood is more somber than happy. Rapes, corruption, inflation, women security issues, droughts, are all there. We have a platter of reasons to choose from. And I am not being humorously sarcastic about this.
2) The will: Are we there yet ? Not so much. A will does not mean simply the desire to be part of a convenient road show. Will means genuine desire and willingness to bring a change. And it starts from bringing a change whenever and wherever you can, not withstanding the impact or credit. The Jaipur accident and dozens of such everyday cases tell us we are not quite there yet
3) A leadership to channelize the will, and to strategize the plan: Did we ever have this? The problem is we all want to be leaders, not followers. And as leaders too, how much far do we really get to bring about the change?
4) Execution: Will this happen? That’s a question I’d like to raise today to my country men.
As a country, we have all the right reasons to bring about a change, a revolution, that will wipe out the evil. But do we have the human arsenal to do that? Are we ready to make a compromise and bring about the change we all so desire? Can we finally shun the convenient complacence and act? Let me tell you something- the elections of 2014 are not going to help. Those looking at that for a miraculous magic wand solution are worse than those that did not help the jaipur man. They are not even looking at the problem, let alone solve it.
This week also saw a couple of other events, largely overshadowed by the anti-rape protests- Gold fell to a new mega low and the rupee depreciated a bit more. Both these are perceived as good signs because they tent to bring our current account deficit down big time. However, I am sure that in the times of inflation % of over 8, the common Indian man, like I am, is not too pleased with any of this.
I believe, our nation today is standing on the cusp of a potential revolution- A CIVIL one at that. We are the ones that pioneered the concept of peaceful protests to achieve big results, although the last of that happened more than 65 years ago. What are the main trigger points that lead to a revolution?
1) The situation: This is as bad as it can get. Yes there are pieces of good things as well, but the mood is more somber than happy. Rapes, corruption, inflation, women security issues, droughts, are all there. We have a platter of reasons to choose from. And I am not being humorously sarcastic about this.
2) The will: Are we there yet ? Not so much. A will does not mean simply the desire to be part of a convenient road show. Will means genuine desire and willingness to bring a change. And it starts from bringing a change whenever and wherever you can, not withstanding the impact or credit. The Jaipur accident and dozens of such everyday cases tell us we are not quite there yet
3) A leadership to channelize the will, and to strategize the plan: Did we ever have this? The problem is we all want to be leaders, not followers. And as leaders too, how much far do we really get to bring about the change?
4) Execution: Will this happen? That’s a question I’d like to raise today to my country men.
As a country, we have all the right reasons to bring about a change, a revolution, that will wipe out the evil. But do we have the human arsenal to do that? Are we ready to make a compromise and bring about the change we all so desire? Can we finally shun the convenient complacence and act? Let me tell you something- the elections of 2014 are not going to help. Those looking at that for a miraculous magic wand solution are worse than those that did not help the jaipur man. They are not even looking at the problem, let alone solve it.
