India against corruption

It is Friday night, April 8th 2011, in India....in Delhi, India at the Jantar Mantar is a 71 year old man named Anna Hazare who is on a fast unto death since April 5th, 2011 as part of the movement initiated by him for passing a stronger anti-corruption Jan Lokpal bill in the Indian parliament. Yes, you read that right...he is 71 years old and yes, he is on a hunger strike which means he hasn't eaten for the last 3 days. And why is he doing this? To raise a voice against corruption, an issue that has become so rampant in India that it definitely needs to be addressed and tackled.

What is the Jan Lokpal bill? The bill is an Act to create effective anti-corruption systems and a means to provide effective protection to whistle blowers.

How are people contributing to the movement? People in India...the common man....have become so tired at the corruption prevailing in the country that they have come out in full support for the movement. Many have joined the fast, people are holding rallies all over the country (I hope that these rallies continue to remain peaceful...else the issue at hand will be sidelined), the social media sites are all talking about it and many are writing letters to the government in order to get the bill passed. For those interested, the below are the addresses where you can send your letter of support:
1. Shrimati Sonia Gandhi
Head of U.P.A
10 Janpath
New Delhi -1
2. Shri Manmohan Singh Prime Minister - Indian govt
South Block
New Delhi - 1
3. Shri Veerappa Moily Law Minister - Indian govt
4th floor, Shashtri Bhavan
New Delhi -1

I salute Anna Hazare, a man who so strongly believes in his movement that he is willingly to risk his life for it. (Now, really, in today's day and age, how many of us would do that?)

So, I fully support Anna Hazare and the cause, but I must admit I am also full of questions. Once the bill gets passed, then what? Who will be accountable to see that the bill does what it is supposed to do? I guess I am (like many other Indians) so disillusioned by how things work in India as far as anti-corruption is concerned, that the doubts do arise. Again, the movement is against the people taking the bribes. What about those giving it? Can every person who is supporting this movement say that tomorrow when they are faced with the choice to pay a little extra money (just a little extra) and get their work done faster, or get out of a traffic fine, they won't pay that extra money? So, I am in a confused state...I would like to be preach idealism and all...but I really don't know what my choice would be if faced with such a situation in the future. So this is something we all need to think about, resolve and stick to.....that we ourselves will not support corruption in any way at any level no matter how small or insignificant we think it is.....because just like 'charity begins at home' the fight against corruption should begin at home too.

Signing off thinking about Anna Hazare, the frail man who is today standing tall and inspiring Indians everywhere to take a stand against corruption and this quote by him

'When a person learns to see beyond his self interest, he begins to get mental peace'