Living in what is commonly known as the worlds largest Democracy, I can hardly feign surprise to the spontaneous anti corruption protests rocking the masses. Anna Hazare, I'd never heard of the man before he decided to stop eating to protest corruption! Now he's the next mahatma all of a sudden. Nothing about the man appeals to me . . the obvious saffron connection, the recklessly anti democratic totalitarian solution to a problem which is so wide spread that it would be difficult to isolate it from the system at all, and not least, the obvious political agenda of opposition. Not to say that I am a big fan of corruption, but I for one believe in respecting the enemy and assessing the scale of the war before i jump into the battle field.

There is no doubt that the Hazare led movement has tapped the support of large numbers of disgruntled citizens, for that and that alone I have to applaud the movement. They have made blubbering fools of our elected representatives, not that there was much going for them anyway. Unparalleled disparity, military occupation within the country, an economy flexing its muscles and reckless destruction of natural resources apart, there came a point in the second term of the UPA when it became blatantly autocratic. Their attempt to arrest Hazare and thwart the movement just shows how far down this road they have come. Behind their 8% growth they hover like vultures.

Corruption. Misuse of power for personal gain. Much as I admire the blaket of vague that a democracy protects its citizens with, there are some things I just can not fathom. The dichotomy of personal freedom and disparity is at the root. The problem is actually quite simple, its just been around for so long that we look right past it as if it doesn't exist. Freedom. The ability to speak or act on ones own behalf without restriction. Responsilbilty. Not to harm others, to abide by the law . . . Now the problem comes when we bring in money. freedom to become rich. but to become rich at the cost of trampling upon others? Any right comes with riders. They are there everywhere. Even a cursory glance at the economy make it obvious that there is no attempt to bridge the gap.

We live in a world inured to the stratification of society. For thousands of years humans have coexisted side by side in ever increasing numbers, shaped by the rules of society. These very rules that we know so well in India, like sati or caste, are at the basis of the acceptance of the status quo. It is these rules that we need to question. The NREGA does exactly that. Ensuring a minimum wage even a fraction (tending perilously we might add) has been a fight fought over many years. The answers are there I presume if we head a little towards the left and ask ourselves how the Dalai Lama could show compassion even to the Chinese, we shall be well on our way, but that is not going to happen. The thermodynamic whopee that we are so addicted to belies any expectation of the revolution.

Anna I suspect will fade rapidly into oblivion, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was all about us winning the last world cup as much as anything else ;)