One of these days, disgusted with failure of his son in PMT entrance test, one of my friends came to me and said, “ See, there is so much corruption”. what is it”? I asked. “This time too my son could not make it. They say the question paper was leaked out to some candidates. You know. there is no hope for the honest people like us,” he sneered. “Next time, he will do it”, I sympathised. “Please, take care of my son as you know the controller of examination ”, he emphasised.
I could not respond to his stance which was the result of his despair. But later I expatiated about what he had said. I sum up that In fact, we despise and appreciate corruption in the same breath. Though there is utmost despair and disgruntle among people, yet they do not want to lose opportunity to resort to foul play if it benefits them. If we fail to get anything out of the foul play, we start criticising the corrupted system and take the stance of an innocent person. If our own deeds are questioned, we justify them by saying that all are corrupted therefore our corrupted acts must be ignored. For instance while travelling by bus if conductor offers to charge less without ticket, we grab this opportunity and call the conductor a ‘nice human being’. That is just a small instance whereas our life is full of such instances when we at once forget all ethical values and change the standard and stance.
Notwithstanding the ongoing clamour and protests against the corrupted system, the long persisting contagious disease doesn’t seem to be cured that easily irrespective of the response of the government and the political parties.
No doubt the modus operandi of ‘Anshan’ or ‘Satyagraha’ or any other form of agitation may play a crucial role, but more important is the change in attitude, approach and outlook of the individuals and society. Therefore, we need a change in modus vivendi if the menace is to be cut at the root. The long and short of it is that we are honest only as long as we don’t get the chance to get corrupted.
Instead of acting as deterrent, our society has learnt to accept corruption as a way of life. It is not out of place to say that corruption has got into our blood and veins. In a bid to accumulate more and more filthy lucre, the biggest fish wants to swallow the smaller one, and the smaller the smallest one. Now, what the smallest fish do ? In this dismal world it is the smallest fish whose voice goes unheard and is the worst hit victim.
It is also equally sustainable that those whose lives have been nothing but a rat race for money will resist even the smallest effort initiated to curb corruption. In fact, we need double edged sword to tackle the issue of corruption. On the one hand we need more Anna’s and Dev’s to bring the big guns to book, on the other a consistent campaign must me launched to inculcate and spread the ethical values.
So, be it Lokpal or the satyagraha to bring black money back, it is the change in attitude and outlook of the common mass that is going to be important if we want to cure the society of corruption.
