Day 240-2011 : A Pregnant Victory

It is the flavour of the season and hence has found a place on this blog too.

Anna Hazare and his India Against Corruption movement have just completed round 2 of their battle against the politicians, in and out of power.  Anna broke his 288-hours long fast earlier this morning on the back of the Indian parliament passing a resolution yesterday to agree 'in principle', to his 3 key demands on the content of the bill.  Thanks to Tata Sky, I haven't been able to track the various developments related to the movement for the last 2 days.  I have been depending on the more 'old school' method of consuming news in the last two days, the morning newspapers.

My sense of the the mood that prevails in the country, from what I read in the papers every morning, is one of jubilation.  The movement has been projected as the common man's fight against the powerful egalitarian class.  There seems to be a sense of achievement and empowerment in people at large, due to the developments of the last few days leading to the Anna breaking his fast this morning.  A great victory for democracy!

Or is it? 

Earlier last week I found myself debating the pros and cons of the 'Anna Methodology' with a few of my colleagues.  I found myself questioning the tactics adopted by the social activist and his team.  Mind you, I am all for the cause.  I strongly believe that corruption is like termites, eating into the foundations of our social systems and rendering them hollow.  And I fully support a movement aimed at making the laws in this country strong to rid us of the scourge of corruption.  However, to dictate terms to a democratic institution like the parliament for calling off the fast, to me, is equivalent to blackmail.  More importantly, it sets a dangerous precedent in a country like ours.  It can result in a free for all.  It concerns me.  And it should concern you.

There are voices within the core of Team Anna as well who feel the same way.  Justice Santosh Hegde has expressed similar views in public and not surprisingly he is no longer part of the core team.  I am sure, Justice Hegde, like me, sees an element of populism in the movement.  Anna and his team at times appear to be playing to the gallery, a rather large one too!  Anna's movement and fasts have been compared to the ones undertaken by Mahatma Gandhi.  I think there is a fundamental difference between the two.  Mahatma Gandhi never allowed a situation of 'me versus you' to develop when he agitated...the movement and the fasts focused on the causes. 

My argument with my colleagues was that in any negotiation it is not advisable to take an extreme stand as a starting point.  It gives very little room to manoeuvre to arrive at a 'win-win' solution.  Moreover, it results in a loss of face.  From my perspective, though the country at large might have forgotten it, Team Anna's main demand when he embarked on the fast was to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the parliament before August 30.  Anna has not been able to achieve that. 

What has been achieved is a 'pregnant victory' which promises more than it delivers.  For the sake of the strong democratic traditions of this country, I certainly hope that it finally does deliver.

Take care.

Day 334 - My Influences

Earlier last week, I attended a training program on 'Influencing Skills', along with a few of my colleagues!  Coming just after two days of campus hiring at Indore (and the resultant nostalgia around being in a campus environment all over again), this two day training program really made me feel like a student again.  The first day was a complete wash-out as the trainer could not hold our collective attentions together.  The second day was much better as the trainer learnt from the mistakes of the first day.

The reason that I mention this in this post is that at the start of the training program we were all asked the question : 'Who has been a big influence on you and why?' and that got me thinking about all the people who have been able to influence my thought processes, behaviours and even values and ethics, over the years.

First and foremost have been my parents, who ensured that the right values and ethics are ingrained from very early on.  I have written about this in a previous post and hence will not repeat myself.

During my school days, Samir Raiyani was a big influence.  Purely because his was a multifaceted personality. And he was good at whatever he got himself involved in.

A couple of others, namely Wali Azam Chaudhary and Ganesh Iyer, whom I have worked for in the past have also been very strong influences.  Both these gentlemen are very dynamic and are gifted with the ability to think out of the box.  Their sense of righteousness was also very inspiring.

Then there are a couple of others whom I worked with and have been quite impressed.  Vijay Lavate and Venu Madhav Indurthi figure in this category.  Especially with Vijay, I have had a very long association.  He is an ideal example of how one can reach for greater and better things while still being grounded to humble beginnings and core values.  Venu had this great ability to always speak his mind come what may, almost bordering on arrogance!

Inevitably, a lot of public personalities have also been great inspirations.  Mahatma Gandhi for his innovation, Amitabh Bachchan for the ability and the will to stand up and fight back every time he is down and out and Sachin Tendulkar for the consistency and sheer passion for his trade!

Hence, there is inspiration in people all around us.  One can learn a lot by just watching them.  Provided, of course, that we keep our eyes, ears and minds open to the key qualities that these people possess.

By the way, the training program was all about conceptual models of influencing skills to be aware of in work situations, which this post is not.

Take care.