2011 - A Year Lost in History

We are at the end of 2011 and in a week from now, this year will be part of history as we turn the page over to a new year.

As I look back on this year, I remember we started out with thick dark clouds on the horizon and in the midst of a crisis that seemed to overwhelm the government and an air of resignation amongst the people about our shared destiny of chaos, mess and failure. 

We saw the rise of a phenomenon called Anna Hazare, a doughty fighter from Maharashtra who raised the battle cry against corruption and the self-serving political class. The outpouring of anger was so real and so massive that it took everyone by surprise and pushed the political class on backfoot.

I had commented in my previous two posts on this fight against corruption.  Corruption - Will Leigislation Help? and Battle Against Corruption - A Tough Crusader that the political class ..."shall try everything in the book or otherwise to impede the Lokpal and weaken the whole institution by appointing "men of straw" to office."

We have seen exactly these things unfold in the six months since my last post.

Corruption is just one issue but if you see the year gone by, it seems some strange paralysis seems to have struck both the Government and the people of India. We have just gone to sleep and have let the year slip by without having done almost anything. Such waste of time is expensive and we may never know the cost. 

Another scourge that has ravaged us has been inflation. With food prices at all-time highs, many more Indians slept through 2011 on a hungry stomach. We had never eliminated hunger from our midst, we only succeeded in increasing the number of hungry people this year.

Our industry has lost its way and suddenly, we are talking of a slowdown and its negative impact. I am surprised how in India, when so much needs to be done, we talk of a slow-down. This is a result of lack of courage, self-confidence and using wisdom that is failing the wrold over to solve our problems. Wrong diagnosis and wrong medicine prescribed.

I hope, in 2012, we as a nation gather some confidence and act in self-interest, initiate a revival and set India on track to healthy growth and this prosperity percolates down to the lowest level. This year then could be a game changer in many respects.

India in Turmoil

In less than a week, we shall draw curtains on the last year of the first decade of the 21st century. A decade is long enough a period to reflect on how much we have progressed as a nation or regressed as a society.

The last decade has seen tremendous strides being taken in all matters economic. Despite periodic hiccups, we seem to have regained our bearings, rather quickly, and, have stood up, marching ahead all the time. These pauses have helped us to get a sense of perspective about our progress.  We have made astounding progress in terms of technology and development all across. We can see visible signs of development trickling down to those who require it most, though this has not been fast enough nor has it been uniform all over.

Yet, it appears that our society seems to have regressed back to anarchy. We had set some rules  of orderly governance and existence but nd brazenly gone about flouting every one of them. We have been totally overtaken by greed and the new motto is " I, Me, Myself" and have gone about amassing wealth or power with both hands and more. Damn the others, damn the country and damn your own conscience.

The scams should be seen in this light and the speed with which the "privileged" have gone about this indicates a sense of fear that all this may not be possible and every opportunity needs to be capitalised on. Common Wealth Games, 2G scam, food grain scam, political conspiracies, defence purchase scams, real estate scams, scams that have surfaced and those that have not seem to blotch the canvas.

There is a loud protest at this, as it should be. The question to be asked is "Are you outraged that this is happening? or Are you angry that you missed the chance of being part of the loot?" 

The second, equally distressing, is the prominence gained by insensitivity, sometimes bordering on cruelty. This has led to strife, divisions in society and rebellion. The political class seems to have been completely bought over and they have in turn mortgaged the country's interests to the highest bidder. Back breaking inflation has focussed all energies on survival.

We see large swathe of our population in turmoil. There appear clearly two sides ranged against each other with no clear victor in sight. 

The whole space has become acrimonious and we have been witnessing a very regressive 2010. Our minds are in turmoil, our society is in turmoil, governance is absent, leadership has gone back into text books and suddenly things certainly seem bleak. The morning newspaper brings no glad tidings.

Do we cross over into a new year with a jaded mind set, defeated and fearful of our future?