This week was important because of two great people who visited the campus - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Shri Anna Hazare. It is difficult to explain why these are great people. There are so many dimensions to their greatness that it is not easy to capture all of that in a brief narrative.
But here is something that is striking. There is a certain magnetism that you sense when you are in the presence of these men that makes you feel that they are extra ordinary. And I say that as a hardened and unapologetic cynic.
Personally I am grateful to Sri Sri for a reason that many may consider trivial - his schools that my sons attend. These schools are a sharp contrast to the average Indian school which resemble miserable hellholes. Unlike in the average school, the teachers in Sri Sri's schools live a motto that I saw on the front wall of the school, the first day that we went there looking for admission. It goes somewhat like this: Teaching is a vocation of love. If you are incapable of loving you should not be a teacher.
That motto touched me. I wish I could live by that motto as much as the teachers at Sri Sri's schools do.
Interestingly, in his interaction at IIMB Sri Sri touched upon an important secular issue too: Corruption. His closing line was a call to the youth of the country: Spiritualise politics, socialise business and secularise religion. I do not know if anyone else has said that before. No matter whether it is Sri Sri's impromptu line or not, it is a line that every young Indian ought to tattoo on his forehead, to borrow an expression from a popular finance text book.
That brings me to that other great man to visit the campus this week: Anna Hazare. I am intrigued by Annaji's ability to pull in such a massive support to his most recent struggle. And here is an interesting problem for hair splitting academics: What explains that crowd at Jantar Mantar and the spontaneous chorus of support? Is it the appeal of the cause? Or Annaji's charisma? Quite possibly, it is a bit of both.
At the end of the day it does not matter. What I hope and pray for is that Annaji and his crusaders win this fight. Sitting in that hall and reflecting on the events of the weeks and months leading to Annaji's fast one was reminded of all that one had read about India's freedom struggle.
The curse of corruption is perhaps no less disgusting and debilitating than foreign rule. It is perhaps even more so because it so reminiscent of the battle of Kurukshetra - an internecine fight that symbolises the struggle between Dharma and Adharma. A struggle for justice from an aggrandising horde made up of one's own. A struggle that has been necessitated by a compulsion where the aggrandisers refuse to share the equivalent of even five villages with the rest of the country due to their limitless greed. If left unchecked it would appear that the masses would not even get the equivalent of the and to stick a needle into, putting the entire gang of Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gadhafi and every other plundering dictator known to history look like a band of angels!
Presentations made, questions raised, solidarity expressed, the aloo bonda and tea savoured, as I walked back to my home the cynical side of me reared its irrepressible head. All movements take place within the context of history. Gandhi's victory against the Brits was a product of history. The forces of history that powered the Mahatma's fragile sloop to the shores of independence are missing today.
Most important to my mind is the difference in the context that obtained in early and mid twentieth century and the social aspirations of the nation at large today. Central to those aspirations is the craving to achieve a great amount of wealth quickly. That craving pervades all walks of life - industry, all the professions, public service and even the portals of the Divine. Physical proximity to the Lord and the speed with which you can get there depend upon the value of the currency wad you can brandish in front of His doorkeepers. Very soon, I am sure, darsan spots of the various popular temples will be auctioned on eBay - the modern Mecca of pricing efficiency. (If that is a novel idea is there some way I can claim a small fee in return for the efficiency gains?)
Money enjoys an important place in our social life. It does not matter how you got it - as long as you have enough of it to launder away the dirt that you accumulate with the money.
Do not get me wrong. I am not against wealth in our society. I feel happy when I see the confidence of our youth, in sharp contrast to the cringing deference of my generation and that of my forefathers. That is a result of economic security that I could not even dream of at their age. I feel happy when I see international brands compete for a share of the ever growing wallet of the Indian consumer. I am glad to see the the swelling crowds at the new epicentres of Indian consumerism - the numerous malls - and young Indians splurging with no care for the rainy day that seemed to weigh down people of my generation.
But in all of this I wish money was not so important that it did not come in the way of rule of law, if not in the way of human values. I wish policemen would not let off sedans violating every driving and parking rule while harassing the helpless autodriver or two wheeler commuter. I wish streetvendors who earn less than minimum wages are not routinely harassed by the police while big businesses flout many a rule with impunity with secure feeling that their wealth could buy them off of any punishment, however egregious their crime.
And it is not as if the centrality of wealth is the result of Dr. Manmohan Singh embracing free market wisdom. There are Sanskrit lines going much farther back in time that tell us how important wealth was. A quartet that I learned in school concludes pithily: Sarve gunaah kanchanam aasrayanti - all good qualities come from wealth.
So at the end of that long ramble here is my worry: In a world where money plays such a large part in our daily lives will Annaji win this crusade? Will we all rush to fill jails as he exhorts us, leaving aside our chase of quick and ever-growing wealth? Is history on Annaji's side as it was on the Mahatma's? Or, will he be left with a Pyrrhic victory, if he has one, trudging up the hills all alone like Yudhishthira after the war, deserted even by his canine escort?
I pray that once more the Lord lives up to His promise: Yada yada hi...abhyutthaanam adharmasya, tadaamanam srujaamyaham - whenever non righteousness rises I will manifest Myself.
What form, if any, will the Lord take this time I wonder! Whatever the form I pray He descends on time, well before we are transformed into Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe!
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