August 15, 2012

Soak No More Corruption!


Hi Guys,

Wish you all a very Happy Independence day!

It has been 65 years since our country got Independence. Our history has been quite phenomenal. We were a rich country, looted by foreigners and then after independence, we have bounced back again in a quick span.

I was quite confused of what to write for the Independence Day. Indiblogger came to my help with the  Soak No More contest  and suddenly the caption ‘Soak No More Corruption’ came into my mind.

India is one of the most corrupted countries in the world and this corruption is a big obstacle for our growth in the global market. I was checking some of the stats in Transparency International website. India is ranked 95/183 countries with a base score of 3.1/10 (where 10 is least corrupt). Control of corruption is 36 percentile (in negative scale of -2.5 to +2.5). The good thing is that we are ranked 51/142 countries in judicial (which means the court is free to certain extent). Voice and accountability is 59 percentile with positive scale.

54% of people accept paying bribe and 64% of people consider government’s effect to abolish corruption as ineffective, but 74% feels that government is taking some effort. The most corrupt institutions in our country are said to be Political Parties (4.2/5), Parliament and Legislature (4/5) and Police (4.1/5).

These are the three important institutions for the growth of a country. If a political party is corrupt, then think about the future leaders of the country. I think entering into a political party and fighting against the internal politics is a very big task and that’s why many youngsters hate politics. We are very much aware about the corruption in the next two things. MPs and ministers have acquired a new hobby, a hobby of getting caught for doing a scam. All the scams are hot for a week, the ministers get arrested and in two months, they are out of jail, preparing for their next jail visit. How many scams did we face in the two years? 2G, coal, Adarsh, CWG, S Band Spectrum and many others – for some scams, some initial actions were taken and for some no actions were taken.

64% of people say that government’s effort to stop corruption is futile. Having a deep thought, one would understand that the main reason behind is fact is the people. When it comes to corruption, people have two opinions. 1. Myself. 2. Others. When it comes to themselves, people don’t even worry about corruption. Remember the events in which people give bribe even when not required.

Whenever I go to Railway station to board a train, then for sure I can see people going behind the TTE and asking him to do something and give him some money even when he is not asking. I remember an incident that occurred in a Passport Office. It happened two years back when I applied for passport. I was getting my documents verified and in the nearby counter, there was a middle aged man getting his documents verified. The officer said that some documents were missing and said him to come again. The man started to ask, whether the verification can be finished if something was given and he was nearly forcing the officer to get something. Whose mistake is this?

Whereas when it comes to others, people start blaming others as if they are very legal and they have never given a bribe. As a society we have to change and the change applies to us too.

A few days back when one of my professors was speaking about corruption, he said that in India, the most educated are the most corrupted too. To a certain extent, this is true. Education has created new pathways for the people to corrupt the society and there are a few instances in which education has become a source of corruption.

I have seen few students who prepare seriously for getting into government jobs and the two primary reasons they give are that you can get high salary without doing any job and you can get something more apart from your salary.

The attitude of the people must change. We have been soaked in corruption for the past so many years. It is high time that we come out and make sure that we are soaked no more.

Ponder over the future of the country and your role in the country’s growth for sometime today. Don’t consider the day as yet another holiday. It is a day to reflect on the past and ponder over the future. The freedom that was achieved after so much struggle and it we should make sure that we respect their struggle by progressing forward.

Again wish you all a very Happy Independence day!

Happy Reading!!!
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This post is written for Soak No More contest at Indiblogger
Indiblogger users, click this link to vote for my post.

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August 12, 2012

3 and growing!!! Thank you once again!!!


Hi Guys,

3 Years – 181 posts – 85000+ hits - This is what my blog has received after it came to life.

3 years is something special. An age when a child starts going to school. An age at which some responsibility is pushed upon the kid. An age that means the kid has survived more than 1000 days. All this creates a sense of responsibility in me. My blog has crossed this stage. I should be more meaningful and provide a better sense to my readers.

Thanks to each and every one of you who believed in me and came to my blog and keep coming to my blog. Hope, I’m not disappointing my readers.

The credit of whatever I have done in my blog goes to three people. I have already said it during the first and second anniversary. I will keep saying it as long as I write. The first two persons, who inspired me and motivated me to write a blog – Vijay Dinesh and Nataraj Gandhi – a big thanks to you! These days we chat very rarely – our career and life has pulled us in its own streams. Hope to see you people soon!

The third person is my brother Narayanan – I think he must have read my blog more than anyone else. I still remember the days when he I used to send him posts and he used to correct them before I post. He was in Uruguay back then. Communicating from there was difficult and still he spent a lot of time with me to improve my blog.  Thanks bro! This year, I promise to write a post about you or your cute little daughter or if possible both. Also, I have to thank my sister in law too. She has helped me a lot by publicizing my photographs. Sometimes she exaggerates too much and sometimes the opposite happens. Apart from this,  thanks for the good food you prepare for me all the time I come to your home.

The other two persons, I have to thank – my dad and mom. My mom reads every post of mine as soon as I post. She enquires with me about what I am writing, what I had written and what my thought process is often. The only time she gets angry is whenever I write something about her (a good lesson for me – that’s why I generally avoid writing about known people). Dad reads some posts in my blog based on references. My mom handpicks some of my best posts and asks my dad to read. Sometimes, if the post is good (or if he feels so), he asks me for a hardcopy. My dad has been a great marketer for my blog. Whenever he introduces me to someone, he will introduce my blog too. Personally apart from dad and mom, I avoid discussing about my blog with anyone (I always stick to my blog, twitter, facebook and mail for my blog). It’s a very great feeling from when your family considers your work as a good one. Thanks Dad and Mom.

I must also thank my blogger friends. Arti, who keeps visiting my blog and encourage me to write better. She started writing blog a little late than me and now she has reached the pinnacle and I’m still in the base compared with her. A blogger who I respect the most. Also, thanks to the wonderful photographers Team G Square who frequently visits my blog and comment. Thanks to Abhishek Bhardwaj – my first reader and a great blogging friend – hope to see you in the blogging world soon.

Another two sincere readers and supporters of my blog –  Lakshmanan Periappa(my father’s brother ) and my cousin Anand anna. From the time they knew that I am blogging, they started supporting me and appreciated my work. Whenever I write a good post, my cousin sends me a mail and that’s when I realize I have written quite well. Thanks periappa and anna! Also Nana, my cousin despite his busy schedules preparing for CA reads my blogs and enquires about that now and then. It’s wonderful to have such readers!

Another person who is a big fan of my blog – my dear friend Vimal Raj. He has the same taste like me in books and movies. I discuss a lot of general stuffs with him. Hope you have wonderful days ahead! Also thanks to Santhosh, Jhaya Krishnan, Saravana Kumar, Ram Prasad (I won’t forget the way you started your blog – my facebook post and how you stopped later), Jothi Kameswaran, Jothi Vasanthan, Vijay Anguraj, Varatha Rajan, Ganesh, Siddiq, Dhasthaheer (remember the Sleepy Technology classes post) and all others who have been regular visitors of my blog.

Finally it’s time to thank my newer set of friends who knew about my blogging habit and started to appreciate straightaway. It’s always encouraging when someone comes to you and asks about the way you write. Many of you assume I spent lot of time writing. The truth is I spent very little time. Thanks to Santhosh, Vikas (thanks for marketing my blog), Tejas, Vijay, Saheel, Om, Nirav, Tarun, Bhavesh, Insha (I will write more posts about snakes), Alekhya, Shilpha, Anrav, Ankur (finally I got time to post this one) and many others (sorry if your name is not here – I don’t remember everyone who enquired me).

There are numerous people who I have not mentioned here. Thanks to every other reader whose name is not mentioned here!

Happy Reading!!!