Democracy?

It’s been a month since one of the most dreadful days India has ever seen and as I entered Mumbai, nothing seemed changed - baring a handful of extra security men. I have spent enough time in Mumbai to let the spirit of this undying city flow in my veins, and nothing can be more exhilarating than to see it pumping with energy. And thankfully nothing has changed.

Well, not exactly, something HAS changed. The people of the city who were off to work on the very next day blasts rocked local trains are not all the same. Somewhere in them and in all the people of this country is fear and anger. Fear because we don’t know what’s going to strike next and anger because we’ve had enough, it’s time to act.

The media channels are taking the politicians and the government to task, the people are organizing peace marches, marathons and protests, the parliament has passed 12 bills in 2 days, the government is finally taking a tough stand on its neighbors and war clouds are looming. What is more heartening to see is that all this is still continuing even after a full month of the attacks something not very peculiar of our country. Suddenly every citizen of the country is standing up against the system and voicing his/her opinion. Anger is widespread and this is something which will not change for a long time to come.

But it’s really sad to see to that every time one needs to shake things in India you need a blast. We don’t light candles without some innocent people dying. We don’t vie for peace unless there is war. We don’t remember our soldiers until they become martyrs. And what more, we celebrate freedom only when there’s a day for it. We need a day for everything, don’t we?

Democracy is such an irony. When we are oppressed, we swear on our fundamental rights. Every time some ill happens we are somehow able to find someone to put the blame on. And well, mostly it’s the system. Not that it’s wrong, the system is responsible for they are the people we choose to represent us. But aren’t we responsible? Why is it that we go to courts for defending our rights but when it comes to following rules and obeying laws and being responsible we conveniently find a loop hole and escape. Be it bribing a traffic policeman to avoid a ticket or evading taxes or even throwing garbage on our streets we are the least concerned about our duties. I often ask this question to my colleagues on why they don’t vote. The answer – whom to vote, they all are just the same – is just another excuse in conveniently shifting the blame.

The question I ask is; should democracy be “for” and “of” only the people, “by” whom it is created? Should people who follow their fundamental duties be only allowed to exercise their so called “rights”? It is time we redefine democracy.

In business world we talk about Corporate social responsibility – CSR. But what about ISR – Individual Social Responsibility? Should goodwill be a part of corporate balance sheets only? And my point is not just about casting votes but much more. A citizen has a duty to give as much to his society as he expects from it.

Let us propose a framework, wherein each citizen’s ISR should be measured. Make a database of all citizens with information about their license numbers, PAN cards etc. Let a traffic chalaan be a red mark. And why just penalize, why not give green tickets to those found paying bills on time, pay off loans, paying taxes or even maintaining clean surroundings. We get points on shopping through cards; we should also get points on paying our debts to the society we live in. And use it as a measure of a person’s credit worthiness or even while applying for a job. Who wouldn’t want to deal with a responsible citizen? This might also force people to behave responsibly.

What we need in this country are aware and responsible citizens. A war is only a short term solution. The bills passed will never be effective unless we help them implementing it. A country is only as strong as its citizens. The need of the hour is to be strong and give the world an answer by showing them that these acts of terror will only make us more united. Let us pledge not to shy away from our duties. So the next time we are asked to get frisked at malls, let us not shy away from it.

Change has come to America. Its time it comes to our Country as well.