Usne Kiyaa... He Did It... He Did it...

Usne Kiyaa... He Did It... He Did it...

That sound familiar? No? Well, it should. That is what every media vehicle and every citizen scream every single day, Monday ho yaa Sunday. Every day, without fail, regardless of occasion, we can hear this in some form or the other. It is a ritualistic utterance in some cases; insincere in others; and unfortunately sincere in some... 

I am talking about the response to the challenges and problems facing India. From governance to corruption: for every problem, we have a staple response. Usne Kiyaa! He Did It! It Wasnt Me! I Didnt Do It! He Did It! It Was That Person! And lo and behold, the focus of the entire nation shifts to the evil uncultured political class,or the government officers, or the policemen, or... but no. It was never us; we didnt do it. No. Nope. Never. Nada. We are innocent babes, pure as the driven snow. 

Now take a step back and observe. Let us observe corruption from afar - and not that piffling and trivial 10-buck corruption that we encounter ever day. I am talking big bucks. Let us take any major scam: observe how normal everyday Indians act as mute spectators to ongoing corruption. For example, when balance sheets are inflated - as in Satyam - it is painfully obvious that quite a few respectable normal citizens would have been aware - finance managers; clerks etc. When inflated subsidy bills are prepared, again a chain of normal people must have been involved; the people who made the delivery challans, bills, claims etc. For bad roads, an entire chain - starting from the bitumen provider, the granite quarry, engineers of the construction firm, government engineers,  clerks etc would have to be aware. For Land Scams, the clerks of the office as well as others in the chan have to be aware. For any scam to successfully operate - it is a given that the silence of the normal man is also an unwitting cause.  It is also a given that any number of junior functionaries has to be involved for it to be carried forward. 

Who is responsible? Only the Government? Only the crooks? Only the political class? What about the clerk who made the fake challan? What about the sales channel that provided third-grade bitumen? What about the guy who made the balance sheets? What about the clerks in his department, some of who must have realised? What about the guy who made those lovely excel sheets?

Usne Kiyaa???? He Did It? Really? Is our moral compass so bloody skewed that we cannot see where the normal Indian has gone wrong? We routinely offer bribed to cops, to government clerks and officials - even without being asked for. We agree to give - aah - envelopes to important officers without even a twinge, a tweak of our conscience. Dont we know what is inside the envelope? Dont we know that the material is third rate? Dont we know that M/s XYZ Pvt Ltd has only been supplied 4 consignments? Dont we know that the profit cannot possibly be as high as claimed, as we are the people who prepare those damned daily reports, monitor costs and sales etc? Dont we know that the bloody building has a height of 48 feet plus-minus 6 feet, and therefore the claim of 78 feet of insulated wire is just crap? What bullshit are we talking about? Usne Kiyaa? He Did It?

Humne Kiyaa! We Did It! It Was Us! All Of Us! We Are Guilty!

As I always say - Jaago, Sonewaalon~!