Mera Bharat Badnaam

Going further down the rabbit-hole, India has touched a new low in its notion of a democracy. It was always a dying democracy but another peel has come off. The inner crust is in plain view and it is rotten. We should have the courage, if not the decency, to call it what it is - a kleptocracy.

The UPA government saved its 'numbers' this week to retain a majority with bribes of millions of dollars per member of parliament. This after the Left parties withdrew support in opposition to the Indo-US nuclear deal.

The Indian parliamentary system requires a ruling party to have an absolute majority. Since 1990 no single party has ever had one. So a group of various parties get together to form a coalition government. This brings in more corruption to an already corrupt country. Elected representatives of the people are picayune prostitutes, bought dearly to collect 'numbers'. Favors are promised, crimes are forgiven, criminals in jail are released, contracts and ministries are given out, alliances are forged with political enemies, statues are commemorated to remember non-heroes as heroes, and of course money is exchanged. This has been the state of affairs for 18 years since coalition politics became the only kind of government possible in India. While everybody here knows this, typical human apathy makes most blind to it. Yet, in the past, this was mostly done under the table, covered under a very thin veil of shame. This time though the shame of was gone. Corruption has erupted like a malignant tumor in the 24/7 media coverage and is now shamelessly staring us in our hebetudinous faces. And we have no clue how to react. Perhaps go shopping?

A promising fraud

As India tail-spins from its pseudo-socialist past to post-modern capitalism, it is nostalgic to see that many still believe a Promise to be a Promise. To be more precise, a "Corporate Promise" to be a "Corporate Promise", especially when advertised in a Big Mall. It is like the word of gods. So when Moolah.com promised free cash up to Rs.2000 ($45USD) to those who visit its Vashi store at the City Center mall in Bombay, droves of slum-dwellers, farmers, and generally the poor gathered outside the mall to collect their free prize. This came as a surprise to the amnesic event organizers who had forgotten the real but invisible India. They didn't expect such kind of a crowd and that too in such numbers. Fifteen thousand people gathered outside the mall. It was time to break the promise.