FAST AND GROW RICH

By SUNNY THOMAS

The story is told of a mystique who fasted for two weeks in a drought-hit village, and it rained cats and dogs. Every year, he visited the village and fasted; and the villagers gave him money for his fast, though they were not pretty sure whether it rained because of fasting or meteorological reasons. But it rained and money poured in. After a few years, wisdom dawned on the mystique who thought of investing the money profitably. So the mystique went to a neighbouring state and started a factory. And no more did the villagers hear of the mystique!

In this land of rishis and mystiques, fasting always pays. There is political fasting, moral fasting, television fasting, and even hybrid fasting which is all rolled into one. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh missed the bus by not fasting when he ought to have displayed the array of achievements of UPA-2. Which government since Independence has landed so many VVIPs in jail, so much so that the carping media started calling it the Republic of Tihar?    

Gandhiji fasted and prevented a communal riot in Bengal, the kind of which is described in A Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh, on the eve of Independence. No one fasted when Mumbai was rocked or when Gujarat was aflame; or when terrorists spilt innocent blood. No one fasted when over a thousand farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra, or when hundreds of girls are burnt alive for dowry. In the affluent society of Punjab and Haryana, doctors have a field day committing feticide, which is cold-blooded murder of the yet-to-be-born because they failed in the gender test. Yet no one thought of fasting! 

Truth to be told, corruption is a euphemism for Congress. What some people want to get rid of is not corruption per se but Congress. Since Hissar is not India, to expect every Congress candidate to lose his deposit in all the future elections could be wishful thinking. If crisis is an opportunity, Congress never had it so good in spite of the present embarrassment. Its survival depends on its success in controlling the spiraling prices and its package for the rural India. These done, Congress will have less to worry about 2014 when the people pass their verdict.  

The wrath of the common man is not against Suresh Kalmadi or Ashok Chavan or Spectrum Raja, but the cop and the petty bureaucrat who harass him at every opportunity. When someone told him, there is a way out, he is all excited and began rallying behind the crusader.   

Civilization marches on two legs, and so does Indian democracy. The country needs a strong BJP ready to take over, should Congress fumble. Unfortunately, promising leaders like Arun Jaitley or Sushma Swaraj who can turn the party into a 21^st century outfit, are prevented from coming to the fore. The mindset of some of its leaders is the main stumbling block for the party gaining acceptance across the spectrum. Narendra Modi’s sordid tale reminds one of Lady Macbeth’s confession:

Here’s the smell of the blood still:

all the perfumes of Arabia will not

sweeten this little hand. Oh, oh, oh! 

What’s done cannot be undone.

       

Team Anna having tasted the power of fasting is unlikely to go back to the pavilion. The members will invent reasons to find fault with the new Lokpal Bill and be back on the streets once again. More issues will crop up, and rest assured, more street shows till the next general election. No one becomes a Gandhian by donning a Gandhi cap, which Gandhi himself did not wear but all Congressmen. But one thing is certain:

Power corrupts but not Anna Hazare

And people’s power, absolutely, but not Anna Hazare

But it might corrupt those around!