Journey in the dark and the debate of light

On my way to Hassan district to attend the marriage of my friend's sister, i got a bliss of company in the Bus. It was about 5 when i got the bus to Hassan from the Magestic bus stand. I got a seat in the last bench towards the left. I was reading history about the time of "Dark age in India during the time of the British". There was a old man with no foot wear sitting next to me asked me if i can fix the time settings on his phone. I set the time on his phone and then i continued reading. It was at dusk at about 6 when i got bored of reading and at the same time the old man next to me asked to stop reading as it would hurt my eyes. So i closed the book, kept it in my bag. But there was a question in my mind bothering me, that was if there was a any profound influence of the British and was there any agitation in Karnataka after Tippu Sultan. As there was an old man sitting next to me, i asked him if he had be influenced directly by British and was he involved in any agitation against them. He said he wouldn't know about the British unless he had not read it in his school. That cleared my question that people in Karnataka weren't suppressed or influenced by British.

Then after some time i asked him about the Gram Sabha's meeting in his village, which happens once in 3 months. He said that the meetings happen, but are not so efficient. I asked why cannot the people in the village elect the prompt Chairman so that they can do better job for the village. That made him tell me about some of the factual stories. There was a person who gave around 1000 rupees and clothes to every house in the village to get elected, but no one turned out to vote for him even though they took money, :). Another person used different names to use the Government policies for the personal benefits, by drilling more bore wells in his personal land. He mentioned that GOD is always monitoring the deeds, and that person did not get a drop of water even though there is a large water table just next to his personal land, :). He said currently there is a good chairman who is less corrupt and does good things for the society. But my question was cant there be a government organisation without any corruption. Then i could hear a feeble voice from the right corner on the same row i was sitting. Then started the real debate with this new middle aged person.

The discussion went for about 3 hours, we spoke about the current problems in India and most of them were about, what we would read in newspaper. Hence i will not mention the detailed version of the discussion, but would like to mention some of the points the gentle man made that stood out.

• He wants the "nominations for the Elections to happen the previous night, so that there is no chance for the canvassing and none of the illegal activities from the political sources are carried out". There are lot of challenges and some flaws for this method but that is definitely a thought that to can be improved further before implementing.
• He sees a Corruption less future as the next generation was getting good education. I disagreed to that point because when people get smarter, they find smarter way of cheating. There is a need for feeling of moral sense in every mind. And if that does not come soon, the day is not far when bribery becomes legal. To put off that day, some of our prominent officials in the government are making great strategies. But the problem is that strategies are not getting converted into the laws because of our current corrupt politics.

The bus stopped for a break where we could have the coffee. The middle aged gentle man offered me a coffee. He said that i should have been a reporter or in the army :). Then we got on to the bus where the discussion continued.

• He asked why do we have to make a fuzz about film actors where they just do the work for there own personal satisfaction. He gave an example of the Raj Kumar Kidnap incident, where there was lot of riots and a lot of public damage which was unnecessary. Raj Kumar was undoubtedly the greatest actor ever, but what help has been done to the poor people in the villages who were affected. I could feel the mixture of anger and cry from within from him, but none the less they are moving on in life, without depending on others.
• In his village there was student who wanted to study Medical science. The student promised the whole village that he would spend the first 20 years salary for the infrastructure of the village. So all the people in the village requested the renowned college run by a Swamiji for a seat in that college. But their request was rejected as they could not afford the donation.
• When one gets such a disappointment, people react in different ways. One person threw the foot wear on that Swamiji in the public meeting. In public this person was pardoned by the same swamiji, but the same person was not seen again in the next meeting. He remembered what his grand father used to say to him when he used to scold others in front of public. He told me that if i need to take my frustration off, i just to go to a place where no one can hear or see me and shout. From that moment, i make sure that i listen to my father, who has been giving me the wisdom of life, which i had always neglected.

As i said before there were lot of stuff we discussed, and some good thoughts that i bought home. The time came to say good bye when he had to get down at his stop. We both did not know each others names but we both had lot of admiration which i could feel in the air.