Letter for Arvind Kejriwal - Rajat Pandhi

Rajat Pandhi's letter to Arvnd Kejriwal from Citizen Oriented Governance circle. It is long but I thought some points in here are very valid.

Suggestions for the Aam Aadmi Party now in Power -Revised 05.01.2014

Dear Mr. Kejriwal,

I heard your thought provoking speech yesterday at the swearing in and hope I can give my 2 bits of little advice, if it is worth anything

Let me introduce myself. I am a 59 years old man now running a business in Delhi for 37 years. Struggled all my life. And still am. My Father was from the Indian Air Force. I live in Mayur Vihar, New Delhi in my own Apartment.. My only hero in life is Mahatma Gandhi. There cannot be any body even close to him in a thousand years .

I would first of all like to congratulate you people for bring the issue of Corruption to the limelight like nothing else has been in the lime light since Independence. It is now a world phenomenon rapidly spreading and Respected Annaji and you all must be given the credit for the same.

Your movement today is at a crossroad. You are in Power. How do you use it????You are now having the tools of Power in your hands. Power to Change the society we live in for the better. But let us not forget .There is no bigger poison than Power. And it can react badly. Very Very badly. As the matter of your House in Bhagwan Das Marg which you nearly took but stepped back in the nick of time.You rightly cautioned people not to get arrogant with power and have another movement to replace you because of your arrogance.Sir, I may sound harsh in what I say, but as you are democratic people you must be ready to at least hear another view. You need not agree .

.The goals you have set for the movement are very idealistic. Almost Utopian in conception. You want a society free from corruption.. You feel a strong Jan Lok pal Bill is the panacea for all the ills and have been fighting the system really hard. Indeed you have shaken the same and attracted worldwide attention. Let us see how best we can reduce our expectations to give a better life to all of us.We must be inclusive. Majority of Delhi,70 % have still not voted you AAP. You have to get them on your side. Not 50 %, or 60 % , much more. Maybe 80 to 85 % on your side. Yes, there are many many good persons in Politics, other parties, Govt service, who are stuck there. You should show them the way out of their predicaments. By being inclusive. That is a very long way to go, but considering the speed with which you have changed the system in the past 2 years , your good work will bring about this change faster than you may pessimistically believe.

How can we bring about the change? Lets understand the physcology and moral character on the average citizen

We have all been in either Govt service, business, private service or as Students and we are well aware of the over reaching power of Govt .We have all lived with, and worked with the corrupt and the clean. But Lets face the blunt truth. Our National Character as a whole needs a huge upliftment from its dismal low ratings today.

The bribe taker has no morals or conscience left. For all of them who take bribes, in the business of Blackmailing, to get a work done is nothing more than a "Business".When so much money is rumored to be exchanged to get a Govt job, the person getting the job begins his job a couple of lakhs down .So basically , they become cunning businessmen and traders to the core. Everything is a business for them. To make money. There are no morals on how to make money.But as Indians have proven in other societies ,which are strong with good moral characters, that given the right set of situations, the Indian will be on top. You know how our brothers and sisters abroad have progressed.

The bribe giver is the small man in the crowd, pushing and crawling to get his work done, drowning in a sea of humanity. He has to get his work done. So there comes the agent or the demand and presto. He is ready or forced to pay the bribe. He too, is greedy. He wants his work done and is ready to pay the price. He justifies his actions to his conscience by saying----"If I don't do it some one else will".

I meet a very very big lawyer the other day preaching loudly about never paying a bribe in his life. I asked him a simple practical question. Here is this school, one of India's best. Your child is 4 years and you have a chance at the admission because of any reason. The person admitting can only accommodate 1 kid and there are 50 kids in the line. The guy asks you for bribe of say Rs 1 lakh. Will you pay him or not? Immediately in one second he answered. Right away and maybe Rs 2 lakhs!!!!!. I asked him what about his ideals , his commitments never to do it etc etc.??? He said that would be a deal between two people in the quiet of the night somewhere through a safe method. No one would know except the two of them. He also said an even more important thing which shook me up. He said that when his son grows up and is a success, he can look his son in the eye and confess to him that he paid that Rs 1 lakh so he can be where he is. He logically concluded that if he doesn't pay the bribe and his son does not get admitted to THIS school and goes to a mediocre school and becomes a mediocre man then he will never have the courage to look at his son in his eyes. And if the son found out about his stupidity in not paying that amount which he could easily afford on the basis of his Fathers so called ideals, his son would either be very proud of his Dad or would hate him to the core. He preferred not to take the chance of being hated and would pay.!!!!

. How many of us would have the courage NOT to do the same? Also how many would say "Why should I change? I will loose the opportunity. "

There in lies a lesson for you all to see the way ahead. .Build a National movement of Character. This will take a generation. Not days

The world today, thanks to the Internet is a glossy picture of the good times!!!!!!.Who doesn't want to a part of the action? In Vegas or Macau or Goa or Monte Carlo? Who doesn't have wants? Ambitions? Desires? Greed for riches? Fancy houses , cars, It is all there for the taking. The smart guys get it. The dumb remain "Wanna Bees". We cannot change this. We have to live with it. And grow with it. Communism failed in the last century because it was too idealistic.The self ceased to exist for himself. Only for the community, the nation. A completely wrong notion. And of course, you had the Orwellian picture of the power centers becoming worse than the rich and powerful. Accept the reality of Greed. Wants, desires for a good and better life. Materialistic things.

So how do you build National Character given the above? Very very difficult and a complex way ahead.

I don't know. Honestly. Maybe Some other time I will give my 2.5 bits of suggestions on this, but always remember, it was the moral Character and honesty to face the truth, as my idol, Mahatmaji did, that ensured at least 30 to 40 years of a corruption free society. And there wasn't even a law then, no country, only evil men like Hitler and Mussolini. Think along those lines.He created values, values which our Parents lived by, but which we the next generation forgot very fast.We the people born after Partition

Do not also forget that Mahatmaji was one of the best politicians of his time too. Very practical and down to earth. He was the center of the whole freedom movement. Everyone listened to him. Even when he was not much in the system. He opposed the partition of India like a sad father seeing his two children fight over his property. He was too old to stop the forces of hatred this had unleashed.On 15th August 1947 my friends , let us never forget. The Mahatma was not in Delhi or Pakistan when the flag of Independent India and Pakistan was being unfurled. He was crying for peace and sanity in a place called Nokhali, some where in Bengal I think, saddened that his dream was crumbling, his battles for independence and all he and his people had suffered was going up in flames. . In fact Gone, with the two countries now separate.He kept weaving on his Chakra for hours on end. We all may have our different views but we all suffered, because of this. My grand parents were from Lyalpur ( Faislabad now). We left everything there and came to Delhi to re start life. Even today, I feel the pain of the partition. Two generations suffered.Mine the most.Therefore let your movement never be divisive again, between haves and have nots, on Caste, Colour ,Creed or religion. Or the corrupt and honest???

.You most of all need to be practical. The Mahatma ran the movement.He was also an astute politician. You cannot change laws from the outside, by street movements. They are never specific. You have now become a part of the system , follow the democratic path of the Country, the path shown by the Mahatma in creating a democratic society,winning elections to truly say you represent the people of India. Your pluralistic sentences inspired by Media Television coverage, saying "The people of India are with you and demanding this or that"""etc and all other plural things in generality are really not true as yet As mentioned above 70 % of Delhi is yet not with you . The true representative of the people of India , brothers are the elected guys.They sit in Parliament. Our Supreme Body and most respected democratic institution .So brothers whether you like it or not and want to change the system, you have to become a part of the political process, win elections, partake in the power and then see if your views can change society.

Do not look for a quick fix solution. . Laws will always be broken. Ideals will never.Don't be in a hurry!!!!!!You are like in a tearing hurry, pumped by the media to get it done now. All media bites. .

You called a lot of Politicians names. Called them corrupt.. Were they convicted? Were they sentenced? Brothers, the fundamental law, which Prashantji also knows is You are innocent till proven Guilty . In a court of Law. Not in the media. Remember Gandhijis words?. Let a 100 criminals roam the streets of my India but let not a single innocent person be convicted. So how can you guys become the Supreme Court of India to pronounce so and so Guilty?. Raja, Kalmadi they are still accused . Sukh Ram is convicted. You made the Political class against you instead of with you. It seemed you were representing some opposition party, all of whom were only with you till your Use by Date. Please wake up!!! This is reality. You have to work with the politicians on your side. Not against them. Don't give them deadlines..

Another thing please don't mind. I am being harsh to you. You can disagree. In a lot of ways the Mahatmas fasts were a self cleansing process. A period of time when he would contemplate his thought. His moves. And try to analyze where he fell short in his beliefs and idealism's. Having the courage of his experiments with truth he would face up to the shortcomings and then refreshed he would launch another movement better than the last. This was his way ahead to perfection. To his goals. Sadly your fasts come out as a threat. A blackmail weapon to coerce Govt. Yes it worked. But as I said brother ideally it is not in the right track. Sorry for the harsh words. I feel this way.

And when you have power, take it to the people. Don't sit in Air conditioned offices in Lutyens Delhi. Remove all the luxuries of power which come today. Move you and your Govt offices and Army of people to the streets, the interiors of India. Go sit under a tree in burning hot Madhya Pradesh in June and direct the Govt from there. Move on to UP, then Bengal. Like a caravan, an army of 21 million soldiers, go from village to village in India, cleaning the mess there, giving electricity, water, health , sanitation, jobs, education, and so many other things which the poor want there. You will have the power to tell the electricity department. I order you in 48 hrs this village must have electricity in every house. And get your 21 million army of Govt servants to do it..And yes. Please sleep without the fan until everyone has a fan. That will take the movement a full 50 years to achieve.Corruption will remain. But build the National Character so the Common man can resist the temptation. And the biggest friend you will have in all this is the Internet. Let the media stay away and focus on movies, cricket, entertainment. Not on your work. Never talk of your work. Let other talk.

And yes. Please make sure that your army of Govt servants are the best paid people. Then 99 % of bribery will cease to exist.

I was in Dubai a few years back and was delighted to see Indian, Pakistanis, Lankans, Nepalis , Bangladeshis all working together and living together without any hatred for each other.This was the Country, the society, the Mahatma dreamed off. Great Roads, Great entertainment, great discipline. And then there was this Dubai traffic cop I got into a conversation with. And I asked him how is bribery there? He looked at me like you would at a mad mad man and told me the simple truth.

"We are so well paid why the hell should I take a bribe from anyone and ruin my life.? I have everything provided to me. Why should I cheat?? "Besides he told me a last profound statement. It is Haram to take a bribe and how can he ever hide it from the Almighty? What will he say when he goes to God? He will rot in hell. Never, he said. I will never take a bribe.

There are lessons in this. He had a moral Character. He was religious , but not an extremist. he was content and happy and did his job, without fear or favors. That is the kind of society we need to have. Our Govt servants are so poorly paid, live in such shabby conditions that it is appalling. Do you expect them NOT to take a bribe? Kiranji did do wonders in the Police force on this matter. The cops, under paid, over worked, sleeping on broken charpoys in dingy rooms, . With a fan .Can you realistically expect that guy NOT to take a bribe? You are kidding yourself. ???Do you think Lok Pal will give him money, to feed his kids? Give them a better life than that civilian? Businessman?His wife and kids will hate him

Discipline. Duty. Honesty. Hard work. Truth. Lovely adjectives. That's all they are. But a Military background, training does wonders to even the dumbest of people. They learn these adjectives the hard way. They live it. And give their lives for it. A three to 5 year stint in the Armed forces must be compulsory for all Doctors, all students above School level. And very well paid too. Not a stipend of Rs 1000 and ask the guy to chase terrorists!!!!. Give them valor, pride in their regiment, their Country. See how fast we get a corruption free society.

Please also learn to live in the modern world. Send out the brains, intellectuals to every part of the world to study their systems. How have they achieved such success?. And come back with the solutions.Would also be a great idea if India could recognize the power of 1.2 billion people. Everyone should be encouraged to go abroad, see the world, learn from there and come back to make it happen here.

Yes. Do not be vindictive in your victory. Leave the past. Let sleeping dogs lie. Have a peace and Reconciliation movement. All of us have done some corrupt deed or the other. All Indians have some skeletons to hide. Don't open old wounds. Create that idealistic society you want through the democratic elections process. It may not happen in our lifetimes, but once we set a trend the next generation will take it up. Everyone in his heart wants to be honest and straight. The next generation must have the ideals which you have built.

And most important more than anything else. Learn to laugh at your self.Admit your mistakes. And make the world smile and be a better place. Always smile. Never Criticize people. You only make them Anti you. And that has been one of your biggest mistakes. In your press conferences you are so honest in your views, dislikes, that it comes through hard.Stop criticizing everyone who disagreed with you. Win them over. With your logic, love, smiles, brotherly affections.. In the end laughingly agree to disagree.Make them your friends. And Forget the cynical press. It only wants its Bytes.!!!!

Arvind, put your feet in reality. Get out of the idealistic world you live in. Once people like you face this reality you will be able to find the way ahead. And always remember, we are all specs in the sands of time. So small as not to exist. Maybe we can try to become a small comma in the history of mankind, maybe we will all be washed away like the sands of time. But if we want to leave our mark for the future generations then rethink your moves, inspire a generation. Change will not happen in our lives. Maybe not even in our children's. But the next generation to them .In the late 70s and 80's of this century we will be able to get close to a corruption free society. You have shown the path. But like Wordsworth wrote, "You have miles to go before you sleep and Miles to go before you sleep." Amen.

I'm sorry to have bored you but I am thankful to you for having given me a chance to express myself to you learned guys. If I can be of any help, do let me know.. Actually, I'm useless!!!!


Yours sincerely,

Rajat Pandhi more