Musings » Act, Now !

Act, Now !

December 6th, 2008

They say it’s over and we should and we will move on, the way we have proudly and silently done in the past. But no, it is not over. The worst is yet to come if we, citizens of India, do not take the reins in our hands and demand certain things. Yes, it is going to take some time to get back to normal but I am not sure if I want it to get back to normal.

Right now we are a nation in mourning but we can not afford to be for long. The anger, the anguish should not subside or repress.
If you note, we need to whet our stance in almost all the fields which definitely going to take time since most of them are deep rooted in our blood but we certainly have to start. NOW. This is a wake-up call for all of us.

After this carnage I have jotted down some major steps, you all can add some more, keep the discussions on and I’ll update the post accordingly. Each step is a mammoth task in itself and will be opposed by some but then it is also said that nothing is impossible.

1. Strong leader. We need strong leaders and not politicians. Young, educated, dynamic, clean & raring to go instead of plump old corrupt puppets with criminal records tagged along whose funerals, foreign trips and Z category security is paid by our hard-earned money.

When our economy had slumped down, we gave charge to an expert called Manmohan Singh to pull it up. I don’t think it will be difficult to find more experts in different fields. People like Kiran Bedi, Narayan Murthy, R K Misra.. there are plenty in this nation of billions. Remember the ad “expert ka kaam expert ko kerne dena chaahiye” ?

2. Strict law & order. No soft corners for anyone. Prime minister, president, a famous film star or a common man, all are equal. Spreading hatred of any kind, be it religious, communal or regional, should be dealt with utmost seriousness. Let us get rid of all Uma Bhartis, Raj Thackerays, Mamta Bannerjis and such likes. The message should be strong and clear.
I definitely do not want my countrymen making hue & cry when a pigeon shits on a statue and rape a nun because she happens to belong to a different religion.

Grow up !!

And yes, we propose removal of caste/religion column from all application forms.. .. right from nursery class to job hunting applications.

3. One rule for all. We can not afford to have some people above the law. I was pumping my fist with anger to see politicians with their ‘family & friends’ coming to the site to outdo each other. Instead of helping the operations in any way, they were obstructing and distracting it. A chunk of police force which was supposed to take care of the common man at the time of crisis was busy protecting these vote seekers.

I fail to comprehend why incharge of operations can not be empowered to refuse them. And did I mention there were two politicians in the hotel who were escorted under ATS cover much before others non-VIPs ?

4. Upgrade defense. Latest weapons, instruments, trainings and infrastructure for the police and commandos to perform their job effectively. They are our ultimate saviours. My heart goes out for the policemen killed because of those flimsy lifeguards and helmets. When I saw Hemant Karkare wearing that jacket I had shrieked.
The metal detectors, CCTV cameras, wireless sets, lathis.. .. all need to be overhauled. BTW, can somebody tell me what president Pratibha Patil was doing with that gun ?

5. Increase vigilance. The general public should be constantly educated and encouraged to keep vigil and inform the authorities in case any suspicious man or thing is seen. Toll-free telephones nos and people friendly patrolling police can play a vital role. The media can help in spreading the message of the rights and responsibilities each citizen has. Communication from one department to another should be instant.
Also, blue prints/maps (for entry/exit, staircase) of each building should be readily available in case of emergency.
We need to take every single information seriously and yes, harshest public punishment for the hoaxers who want to act extra smart.

6. Join Defense. Publicize & make Army, Navy and Air-force so lucrative that public thinks it as a better career option than joining an IT firm. Instead of having 200 NSGs for entire nation, time has come to have 200 for each state. Make them our heroes, our idols. Increase salaries & subsidies and make them visible to the masses.
May I suggest one year compulsory training in any of the branches just after completion of school ? Why at that stage ? Because this is the stage when a person chooses a career, and given the exposure I am sure many will want to go for it. At a later stage when people have completed their studies and have already chosen a career, it is difficult to make them change their field.

How to ensure the one year after school training ? Have one checkbox for this in all courses they further opt for. Deny admission unless they serve the defense. An indication in voter-id card can also suffice.

One of the heroes… TV Shot, Photo Copyright : Cuckoo

7. Instill patriotism. Patriotism doesn’t come with two free national holidays, delivering speech behind bullet-proof glass and singing of national anthem. It has to be instilled deeply right from the childhood, leading by example.

I have earlier written here about a patriotic little girl. The people should have sense of responsibility & ownership towards the nation in the sense that whole country is theirs and they need to protect it from outsiders as well as insiders.
One small unrelated example – While strolling in a park in Geneva, I once saw a small kid going to a rose plant to take a flower. His mother ran towards him, told him it belonged to all of them and hence he should not take it.
Immediately I happened to compare with what we adults do in India. We go to park with our wives or girlfriends, shamelessly pluck a rose and haughtily present to them. Oh, how otherwise on earth we can show our oozing love for them ? What do we expect our children to learn then ?

The attitude “Others are doing it too” will HAVE TO GO.

We must have sense of commitment and accountability. When are we going to learn that whatever we destroy in a fit of rage, they all belong to us and we all are accountable for its upkeep ?

8. Corruption. Insist, respect and reward honesty. Do away with corruption. I know it is going to take a long time and lots of self-discipline to even execute it. (In separate posts I’ll cite two examples of daily life that happened recently). But say NO to corruption and black market. Insist on a receipt even if you buy a loaf of bread. Let that shopkeeper at the end of your lane know that he needs to keep a receipt book and also pay his dues.
It was corruption in the form of greed of wanting to earn a wad of notes on the boatman’s part that he took and let the terrorists use his boat. Do away !!

9. Curb freedom. We all need to curb a bit of our freedom. Freedom to walk into an airplane, a mall, railway station or a cinema theatre without any security personnel moving his hands on us. Rather insist on getting checked and if they are not performing their duties, let them know you mean business.

Yesterday only, our 17 year old brat alongwith his friends went to a mall. Four of them had guitars on their backs. No one bothered to check at the entrance. He & his friends insisted on their gig bags being checked. What was security person’s excuse ? “I knew it was a guitar inside”. Bloody hell !
This is a little price we have to pay in order to make us feel secure and safe.

10. Decongest major cities. Develop small towns into corporate hubs with all required infrastructures. Many companies, though they are willing to shift to smaller places, can not do so because of lack of basics like electricity and good roads among other things. Here, companies like Reliance and Tata can chip in.

11. Better Investment. I am an income-tax payer. To me tax is an investment for the betterment of my country. I certainly do not want my hard earned money being spent on erecting a statue or giving Z plus security to a corrupt politician.

Now priorities would be in the order of.. ..
My security – from terrorism, natural calamities, communal/regional hatred etc.
My necessity – hospitals, primary health centers, latest equipments, doctors, schools, courts etc
Convenience – railways, roads, fuel price, computerization, other facilities and infrastructures
Luxury – stadiums, tourist places etc

Many more things but definitely not a statue or a corrupt politician ahead of the above. Now, can we have some tax experts to look into these matters ?

It’s time not to forget this tragedy, for, it will only get worse. We need to galvanize public opinion and demand accounting for all lapses on all fronts.
We need to be more upfront and more zealous in our own cause to clean up our country.

Let us make India a better place to live in.
Let us wake up.
NOW.

Jai Hind !!

An Update :- Musician Vishal of Vishal- Shekhar has filed a petition in Mumbai high court so they take the cognizance for making it a PIL (Public Interest Litigation). We must help him to get as many signatures as possible for this petition so that things can move faster. He is asking for a code of conduct for media.

You can read his interview here and sign the petition here.

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65 comments »

ashes said,

December 6, 2008 @ 4:29 pm

Quite a thoughtful post. I agree to most of it except the bit about making it mandatory to join defence services after the school. Compulsion doesn’t work; we need to instil such feelings of patriotism in people that makes them do for their country. And anyway, if we do our duties right, stay away from corruption, file our taxes, stay on the vigil, and do the other things you mentioned above, we might make India a better place to live in.

Your post lists some points that the common man should do, but some points in the beginning should take place at an administrative level. We still need to find out means to make that happen at that level.

A friend and I were discussing this as you posted this. And we agreed that merely writing on it and debating will not help. A similar discussion went on my post. There are a lot of people who want to do something, but do not know what to do and where to begin. There is a lot of brainstorming to be done; we need to bring like-minded people on a common base, discuss and evaluate and devise means and ways to get our country back. A handful of bastards come and stir the entire nation for 3 days! We cannot let incidents like these this happen anymore.

Tarun said,

December 6, 2008 @ 5:46 pm

I think we are already 10 days late, whatever had to be done had to be done then.

I agree with ur post though.
Cuckoo how have u been?

Suryansh said,

December 6, 2008 @ 9:11 pm

Cuckoo,

You have hit the crux of the matter. I have always wondered why do we blame politicians. After all, we are the ones electing them so if anything, we are responsible for our miseries..rather it would be our “Chalta hai” attitude. We need to get rid of that first and everything should gradually fall in place.

Abhijit said,

December 7, 2008 @ 1:33 pm

Patriotism is the key! We must analyze ourselves individually.

Firoze Shakir said,

December 7, 2008 @ 11:23 pm

I am proud of your blog you guys are the future of our beloved nation.. its guys like you who should come forward in nation building.. a single sms was enough to bolster the Mumbai Peace March
This is the spirit of young India…

Firoze Shakir Poet

Thank you ..Bloggers Unite

Amiya Shrivastava said,

December 8, 2008 @ 5:49 am

Hey,

I’d divide my solution into two parts:

1)Short Term Solution
2)Long Term Solution

Short Term Solution:
All my points are concurrent with yours and here is the additional thing I’d like to see happening-

Let’s understand how Indian population is distributed.We have 1.2 billion people but they are concentrated at a few points (cities). Like Mumbai+Thane including the Suburbs have 3 Crore population, similarly Culcutta, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi.

Now here is the vicious circle. The respective state governments recognize the fact that they have to equip these places with upgraded and sophisticated infrastructure to accommodate demands of growing population, so they invest in the infrastructure of these cities, like Bandra-Worli Sea link, Hyderabad’s outer ring road etc. Cost of this augmentation is around a few billion of rupees, however, this doesn’t solve the problem because better infrastructure now attracts more people to come here and work (Every body wants to enjoy a high standard of living) and similarly facilitate corporate development and therefore trade etc.

As a result, this thing falls unto itself. Huge number (density to be precise) of people means less space for each to live and therefore lots of congestion and mismanagement. Now, in Mumbai alone there are so many houses/commercial buildings that the point to have plans and layout of each building becomes very difficult and slightly impractical. Law and Order can be easily violated by anybody without even getting noticed. The sheer amount of people takes over the law keepers and increase the mismanagement.

So far so good, but what’s the solution? So, the solution for now can be to decrease the population density (which is obviously different from decreasing population, which is my long term solution). If the population density is decreased then all the points suggested by you can be planned and applied even the concept of social security number becomes practicable here. How can this be done? My solution is to identify other places in states and start developing them, authorities should make policies that the corporates open their offices in these new areas and therefore diverting the traffic due to them to these new areas. E.g, Maharashtra is such a big state areawise but only Mumbai, Thanne, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik are known. Out of 9 crore of total population of Maharashtra 3 crore live in Mumbai and Thane and their suburbs. What if they identify and develop 11 such regions in Maharashtra considering that there is 2 crore of transient population like temporary workers and tourists? Imagine if Mumbai and Thane have only 1 crore of Population combined and a few unnecessary buildings are collapsed to get more breathing space. Rest of the areas could then be documented well for security reasons.

What if the other states develop their regions well to stop emigration of people, Mumbai and other metros will be so relieved? Like if Raipur gets its own corporate sector working, nobody will move to Mumbai then.

(I took mumbai as example because that is where I lived and is currently in context).

So the Short term solution would be even population distribution.

Long Term Solution:

There is only one solution based on the premise that if in a group involved in a feeding frenzy a member is left hungry then he’ll feel bitter and therefore he’ll disturb harmony of the group which means that there should be enough resources for all of us to survive.

The situation today is very different, we are so large in number that obviously there are not sufficient resources to fulfill our needs. For Example, India is number 8th in Electricity production ahead of the United Kingdom, but we still live in poorer condition than the UK people. So, obviously the solution is to reduce population (and this time I am not talking about the population density, we should not proliferate anymore, bacche do hi achche, ab shayad ek hi achcha doosre ko adopt kar lo, if you care about India then), now I understand this, you understand this may be people like us understand this, but not all the Indian citizens understand this and therefore, we need to educate them, we need to tell them that your small actions are affecting the country big time, so stop doing that.

So the long term solution is population control but the key to achieve is the education.

So, let’s understand this and let’s start educating people.

and yeah..

JAI HIND

Rahi said,

December 8, 2008 @ 10:57 am

I started thinking that it will be just another post on mumbai terror attacks (in fact heard so much of the rhetoric with no action that have taken a distaste for the subject). but the action points u have mentioned makes this post special. and these are the actions we require at this moment. thanks for penning the thoughts of the common man.

Mayank said,

December 8, 2008 @ 11:32 am

Cuckoo,
Once again a well written & very thoughtful post. And I am glad unlike many people who shout on the roads saying we should do ’something’ you came out with the solutions also.

I propose you become the leader and join politics. we’ll vote for you. india needs ppl like you. and I am not saying by reading only this post. you have the quality of a leader. think it over. country needs you.
Have you linked this post to your blogbharti? If not pls do so.

God bless you.

N said,

December 8, 2008 @ 12:11 pm

really liked your post. in fact, am sharing the link with a few people who are trying in their small ways to make a change. it helps to have organised thoughts like yours to share….

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December 8, 2008 @ 12:54 pm

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Cuckoo said,

December 8, 2008 @ 1:46 pm

Ashes,
Thank you for your valuable comment.

I agree to most of it except the bit about making it mandatory to join defence services after the school…… Well, many countries do this and I think this is the age the young ones can do without much ado attached.
I am not for 100% Gandhigiri. I can not show my other cheek to my slapper, I’ll try to control myself till a limit but in the end I might whack him/her.

My views might be slightly different from you.. .. If not Bhagat Singh, I might follow Nehru instead of Mahatma but then the background I come from, will definitely have an impact on my thinking.
But heyyy this is not the final cut that they are going to implement. It was just my suggestion.

Your post lists some points that the common man should do, but some points in the beginning should take place at an administrative level…… Well, it has both. I am just trying to take a direction whatever I, as an ordinary Indian could think of. I might have forgotten some important pts. People are free to add here (as your friend Amiya has done) and elaborate and then maybe together we can force our ‘leaders’ to act upon them at a higher level.

And yes, a common man can also make a difference. I know I do.

Cuckoo said,

December 8, 2008 @ 2:04 pm

Tarun,
I think we are already 10 days late, whatever had to be done had to be done then… Late ?? You mean we can not do anything now ?

I am doing perfectly fine, thank you.

Suryansh,
Thank you. Yes, the time has come to do something and I have tried to list some of those ‘something’.
I am sure if like minded people come together, we can really do something.

Cuckoo said,

December 8, 2008 @ 2:12 pm

Abhijit,
Yes, but how many of us really act upon it ?
Baatein kerna & agreeing is all easy, but we ourselves do not do it.

Firoze Shakir,
Welcome to my blog.

Thank you for your so encouraging comment here.

Thanks for your visit and keep coming. Will need your blessings.

Cuckoo said,

December 8, 2008 @ 3:18 pm

Amiya,
I welcome you here on my blog.

And this is called a comment ! Thank you for your so elaborate and valuable comment. Much appreciated.

Well, yes I agree with you on long term & short term plans.

The population thing I had in mind but since it is ongoing problem which is being tackled, I did not address.
But yes, the population density problem was completely slipped off my mind while writing this post. I am aware of it. Thanks, I have added to the list. See pt. no. 10

We already have some small cities which have come up in last decade or so. Kochi, Gurgaon, Mohali are just a few of them.

I also had thought about social security no., but it looks nearly impractical to me thinking of those remote villages where we do not have any damn thing. Heck ! we do not even register births & deaths. Difficult task indeed but doable, if not today then tomorrow.

I am also of the same opinion on adoption. Here in Mumbai, I know many couples ( at least 20 ) who have adopted at least one child (mostly elder). But this concept is not so popular anywhere in India, not even in Delhi.
Today only, I read in paper that an old Haryanvi couple (wife being 70 years) has given birth to a child !! I fail to understand what was the need, why couldn’t have they adopted one.
In this case doctors should have said no but then they also want money and fame. The whole system is selfish rotten one.

Anyway, once again I thank you for taking out your time for writing your views here.

Now that you know the address, I hope to see you more often here.