And for an Onam Friday, in waterlogged Bengaluru, some thoughts….. some musings…..
At the outset let me wish all my FB friends, relatives and SEEGOS volunteers, happy Onam festivities. Honestly, Onam is indeed unique and very differently celebrated than any other Indian festival. Basically a harvest festival with colourful mythical stories woven around, today Onam is a global MALLU event irrespective of caste, religion, gender, age etc. etc. Gujjus, Punjus, Sindhis, Nigerians, Australians, Americans and Germans, all get a nice Kasavu Mundu (it’s Unisex). Every Mallu will buy a Onamkodi (brand new purchase for Onam) for himself/herself and also gift to all relatives and friends. So all people attending the afternoon lunch called “ONAM SADYA” are almost in uniform. The women with nice smelling flowers and very well braided , look their stunning sexy best. Men are ofcourse as usual very hospitable. The bar is fully stocked and no time limit to open and shut . The Sadhya preparation is very elaborate and tradition bound. Served on a banana leaf with strict protocol of placing each item at a particular sequence – the dry fritters and post lunch ginger digester, the papadams and plantains, not to mention the huge spread of curries and vegetables. The king of all is the “AVIAL”. Each chef will have his own palate to rate. At the end of the SADYA, every member will provide a feedback too. The hostess and head of the family will have a huge smile on her face. Another successful Onam. May Lord Mahabali bless us all with good health, happiness and togetherness.
This year the rains have prolonged and been very erratic. Bengaluru city, particularly the IT corridors, had a huge cloudburst followed by heavy rains, completely exposing the city’s underbelly of incompetent, corrupt systems and babus and officials not being accountable. There is no highest single “Authority” which has owned up to say “it’s my problem – I have the authority – I shall fix it”. Actually there is a huge constitutional issue which needs fixing at the national Parliament level. India has a federal constitution with Central jurisdiction, state jurisdiction and concurrent subjects. Most unfortunately, our big cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai have fallen in between stools, with some politicians supported by corrupt babus using the resources of the cities as “Milking Cows” to caress their own families, friends and rural constituencies. So citizens in the big Cities create wealth by sheer hard work and enterprise to be looted and floundered at will. Corruption at every stage is very intricately and systematically woven into anonymity. The vortex is too complex; no beginning no end. The exploiters are always scot free. None can be nailed.
A RCA (Root cause Analysis) of why India is still underdeveloped will always end up in Corruption issues. Hence let each one of us be alert and participate in Nation building, the Ethical way, the caring way, the SEEGOS way.