DECENCY IN PUBLIC LIFE - 3

5th April 2009.

Hi Fellow-Campionites,

I can’t thank you enough for forwarding my e-mails to friends. I have had perfect strangers write to me saying how topical the stuff was and, more important, the need to act; to act decisively and to act NOW. I was, thanks to our very own Mukesh Gokal, at a small kick-off campaign function yesterday organised by an independent candidate in the South Mumbai constituency, when a young doctor sauntered up and, on introducing myself to him, said “Aren’t you the one who has been circulating the e-mails on public life?” I pleaded guilty, but only partly. I said that my school friends were my main partners-in-crime.

May our crimes never stop, friends, and thanks a million once again.

Thanks also to Priyadarshan Pradhan who e-mailed us information on “Meet the Candidate” programme at Gamdevi this morning. We were specifically informed that one candidate cannot make it, being in jail.

With D-day just about 3 weeks away we are still faced with the dilemma of choosing between the Tweedledees and the Tweedledums – the only difference being that probably for the first time in decades we have a few very well-educated candidates in the fray.

Now, speaking for myself, what concerns me apart from the hate campaigns is the issue of the scandalous levels of corruption. If the Congress is trying hard to deny the taint of the Rs. 600 crore “business charges” in the Israel missile deal, the BJP has egg all over its face by projecting as their candidate an ex-IAS officer who was given the sobriquet of Queen of Corruption by none other than her IAS colleagues. The other parties are also in the same boat. Perhaps the only party that has managed to keep the skeletons covered so far is the CPM.

So again the question: Whom do we vote for?

In my view there are three ways of looking at this:

1. DO NOT VOTE for a criminal. By this I do not refer to the legal requirement of conviction, but the popular notion of who is a criminal.
2. VOTE FOR the lesser evil, and
3. Take a very, very hard look at the INDEPENDENTS.

Why the independents? Again, for 3 reasons:

i. They are young professionals, have no axe to grind and are propelled by nothing more than a strong motivation to do “something”.
ii. Their conscience is not corrupted by party politics, and
iii. They carry no baggage EXCEPT THE BEST EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS and THE BEST WORK EXPERIENCE IN THEIR FIELDS.

I am enclosing below Mukesh Gokul’s e-mail. Please go through it. It contains good food for thought. Question him on this, and get INVOLVED. I am.
All through the years the common refrain during election time is that B-category candidates are declared winners by default, simply because the Malabar Hill-Cuffe Parade residents prefer not to vote. The results have been calamitous. This year too, the temptation not to cast your vote is very strong as –

i. 30th April is a Thursday and a holiday for voting,
ii. with a day’s leave from office (Friday) one can easily enjoy a long weekend, and finally
iii. with the children’s exams over one is set for a grand vacation to cooler climes.

This is simply an exhortation to PLEASE VOTE before you go on a holiday. And set an example for your children so that they vote too. For the first time in independent India we have a student voters body of more than 10 crore strong. This makes all the difference between good governance and chaos.

34 years ago as a probationer at the Mussoorie Academy I learnt from Mr. D.C. Tewari, our tutor in Political Science and Indian Constitution, a simple adage for all administrators from Chanakya’s Arthashastra:
Yatha Raja tatha Praja – As the ruler, so the subjects.

34 years later one realises that in a far-from-perfect democratic set-up as ours the adage that is topical is
Yatha Praja tatha Raja – As the subjects, so the ruler.

So friends, the ball is in our court. India demands just one hour of our time on Thursday the 30th April. So PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE, DON’T VOTE FOR CASTE.

Yours sincerely,

Deepak Tralshawala