Jugaad and the Anna Follower
Jugaad is a very Indian term for Indian way of doing things. We Indians in fact propragate and recognise or even accept the existence of only the positive side of it. However, like any good coin Jugaad has the second side as well. The negative side. The dark side.
Sometimes its funny how even the negatives are taken as positives in our society. Some sales guy could sabotage the competitor's inventory and hence achieves his target, then it is awesome Jugaad and not unethical. If someone can talk his/her way out of a traffic ticket after violating a traffic rule then he/she is a great jugaadu. I appreciate that they did not bribe the traffic constable but at the same time they will never learn the right lesson but bask in the attention that others pay for their stupid stunt.
Right, lets make it a little simpler. Auto-rickshaw or tuk-tuk is hailed as an example of jugaad innovation. I mean, it is custom made for Indian conditions, it is cheap and gives livelihood for so many people. Right? Wrong! Absolutely! Let me explain. consider a wide, straight and long road. Put an auto and a Volvo cruiser bus on that road. No traffic lights. Take it to be a kind of drag race. Which of the two will win? Correct answer. Now, let us change the scenario. Same auto and same Volvo cruiser and same road. But, we have traffic congestion. Now, which of the two will win? *Smirk* Now, we all agree auto is one of the jugaad innovations. But, don't you think we forgot the real problem lying beneath this? The real problem to be treated might be bad city/traffic planning or awareness about traffic rules or even lack of compassion among fellow riders. Are we even concerned about any of this? We are comfortable as long as someone is able to solve the problem. But is it the right problem he has solved? No one really cares, as long as they have immediate relief. Just pop a pill and forget about the headache and later you realise you have disrupted your digestive system.
Somewhat similar is the current situation in our country. The tussle between Lokpal and Jan Lokpal. Before you categorize me into one of the groups, let me quickly remind you that I am as much patriotic as you are. I want to end corruption as much as you want to do. But are we addressing the right question? Just because we have Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal (I hold utmost respect for both of them) doing some jugaad on our behalf, are we sacrificing on the real solution? In the interest of the nation, I am sure both Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal would have researched, debated and pondered over the bill they are proposing. But have you considered the bill? Have you pondered over what the real problem is? Have you, before shouting slogans and posting on FB, researched and more importantly debated about the bill? If so, good. If not, I sincerely urge everyone to do it in the name of everything that is holy!
Setting Anna and his courage apart, think once with your brain and decide. Are we really going to achieve anything with this Messianism? However noble the cause, the end never justifies means. That is one lesson that ruthless history has taught us. Again, Just to reiterate. My opinion is not about Anna or his bill. My fight is with you, the follower, who I perceive to be following Anna blindly. Out of rage. But do you even know why chose this path?
So are you advocating that:
ReplyDelete-we dont do anything at all.... because that is the easiest thing to do
-discourage anyone like Anna who tries to do something and spread bad word about the shortcomings (if any) such person has. In that case we will show our patriotism by saying complex theories about intircacies of following democracy but achieve nothing on ground
-we dont follow Anna and let the bill die its natural death, like last 42 years?
-or worse we let the near ineffective Lokpal Bill become the law(instead of Jan Lokpal)
Interesting view point of my article. I am not saying any of it and I thought that I was clear about it. I am only inquiring (not even questioning, if you know what I mean) if the followers of Anna have snapped out of the emotional mind set and thought through this. In fact, I am asking them to think through and take what they think is right. Not what Anna or Arvind said is right. If they are already doing that, good! (I have put that as well in my post)
ReplyDeletePS: You can put your name in the next reply :)
http://news.oneindia.in/2011/08/23/anna-hazare-student-supporters-cluless-jan-lokpal-bill.html
ReplyDeleteKeep it simple Shanky.
ReplyDeleteI understand the article and agree to it to a certain degree. Just would like to add , that if you find a solution to people's issue they make you an instant hero not knowing the consequence 4 years later (example Hitler solving German people's issue before ww II). Point being people need a symbol , a leader to follow and people being people who can't rise for thrmselves will always follow. Can't change that my friend , not now , not in the future. Also our useless government is not able to find a solution and hence people are following the solution put before them. Life would have been simpler if an anti corruption project could be prepared by 10 teams and people chose one of it thus making it mandatory for parliament to follow it.
ReplyDeleteNote: No way is the Hitler reference related to Anna hazare.