The tale of three Gs

For the last couple of days my graying head has been in a whirl over the cyclone in our capital. In the eye of this storm are the Gandhian (G1), the Guru (G2) and the Government (G3), all of whom have got their knickers in a right royal twist what with the first trying to catch all the crooks, the second trying to find their pots of gold at the end of the Swiss rainbow and the third trying to stop the first two! Complete with ministerial big brass trooping to the airport when the saint comes flying in, horse trading in five star hotels and huge shamiyanas to shelter wannabe ‘fasters’, the three-ring stage has been set. The nation holds its billion-strong breath awaiting signal for ‘action.’

Umpteen parliaments and successive governments haven’t caught the crooks or retrieved these gains because if they did do so, Parliament House would implode upon itself every bit in the way the Twin Towers did in New York a decade ago. Even a cursory investigation will reveal that ‘kharcha-pani’ comes in all shapes, sizes and guises sponsored by the very folk at the top that ought to be preventing it. When scams cover the gamut from gun to grain, who is going to catch whom when everyone’s hands are stuck in the jam jar?

But now that the beloved monsoon is here, the breeze has shifted direction and perhaps ‘action’ time has actually arrived at our collective doorstep because G1 and G2 are the dual eyes of the storm in the capital. Even though they seemed to have had some domestic tiffs, it appears that they’ve kissed and made up and are raring to fast-unto-death to force G3 to toe the straight and narrow raasta upon which you and me huff and puff everyday for half a century each to honestly pay for the ‘roti-kapada-aur-makaan’ that will keep the wolf away.

Hah! And G1 and 2 aren’t having any of G3’s usual tactics of forming ‘committees to look into the matter’ and who will eventually submit 10,000 page reports that will be trashed in the nearest bin. Without any strategy to hide behind, the G3 now stands shamefully exposed.

Anyway, though fasting to death’ is not the ‘action’ I’d chose to ensure successful ‘shikar’ of both, criminal-turned politicians who populate government establishments, and the mind-boggling amounts of black money being molly coddled by Swiss guards, perhaps in India’s sunny clime it’s the fastest way forward. For way too long have kickbacks and bribes amongst the high and mighty made a mockery of decent life and living for all ordinary citizens. Try getting anything done from small ones like having your driving licence renewed or your gas connection shifted; and biggies like getting your house registered or a First Information Report noted following an accident or burglary and you’ll know what I mean. Be it open palms on the street or open table drawers in offices, they signify the same thing … no pay, no way, go away!

Dare we hope that the Gandhian and the Guru between them will now be able to draw the proverbial Laxman Rekha around G No 3 while we support the duo from our individual spots? While there’s action, there’s hope.