ON THE CUSP OF A TECTONIC CHANGE
October 31,1984. I was a
student at Delhi University when I heard the announcement over radio, that
Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister, was felled to the bullets of assassins. By night
there was carnage on the streets of Delhi and across several parts of Northern India
as innocent Sikhs were viciously massacred.
That night Rajiv, her son,
was sworn in to lead the nation -ironically by the first Sikh President of
India. The wanton violence lasted almost three days. Nineteen days later,
addressing a rally at the Boat Club lawns, the handsome Prime Minister passionately
spoke, ‘When a mighty tree falls it is only natural that the earth around it does
shake a little.’
Circa 2016. There were several
likes on my Facebook page, when I quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech
on demonetisation, ‘So, in this fight against corruption, black money, fake
notes and terrorism, in this movement for purifying our country, will our
people not put up with difficulties for some days?’ Yet there were some
discordant notes too. Some likened it to Rajiv Gandhi’s speech at the Boat Club
while others advised me not to be a foot soldier of the government.
Riding on a tsunami of
sympathy, Rajiv and the Congress Party swept to power with an overwhelming
majority. The young Prime Minister with messianic zeal attempted to dismantle
the power brokers in the Congress Party and usher in revolutionary changes in
the fields of science and technology.
Indian Railways pioneered
the computerised Passenger Reservation System. Madhav Rao Scindia, the
presiding deity of Rail Bhavan fashioned the project with enormous enthusiasm. As
a strapping youth, fired by the socialistic rhetoric of the likes of George
Fernandes, I felt that the monolith railways would lose jobs and hurtle down
the precipice. Misplaced fears! Today, 70% of the reservations are done through
the internet. Indian Railways rely on the Freight Operating Information System
to ensure transparency in e-payments and cargo tracking. On hindsight, was I
not being a Luddite?
The jury is still to be
out on the demonetisation. Indeed, a great churning is taking place. Serpentine
queues have formed outside banks and ATMs to deposit and withdraw money. Media
reports indicate lives have been snuffed out, the informal and agrarian sectors
have been adversely affected.
Former Prime Minister, Dr
Manmohan Singh has termed the demonetisation as, ‘monumental mismanagement,
organised loot and legalised plunder.’ He pretermits that politics is the art
of perception and the electoral verdict of 2014 clearly vindicated the Anna
moment and a crusade against graft and unscrupulousness.
How much black money will
be eventually garnered is a matter of speculation and conjecture, but the
tectonic changes will indeed trigger transparency in the long haul. JM Keynes
may have to rewrite an epitaph.
It
is a daunting challenge for the Prime Minister to adhere to the challenges
ahead and the goal post he has set for himself. A
man of ordinary intelligence would perhaps have buckled under pressure and
adopted the ‘middle path’- the softer option of a roll back. But a malleable
and robust mind takes up the cudgels to turn an adversity into a win-win
situation. For this, the individual needs to conquer his anger and ego.
In the Ashtavakra Gita,
Rajrishi King Janaka implores the sage to provide in a nutshell the way to
salvation. ‘Give up your ego’ says Ashtavakra.
Ego encompasses the human
mind with an array of antipathetic emotions. It blurs the vision of emperors,
vassals and seekers alike. It extirpates the peace and tranquillity of mind. In
such an eventuality, the individual is unable to take scientific and rational
decisions.
Duryodhana blinded by
rage, attempted to chain Narayana himself in the court of Dhritirashtra.
To combat the
vicissitudes of life which confront humans, it would sagacious to remain
humble, simple and polite, adopt a forgiving nature, become childlike and empathetic.
We need to be considerate with even our purported adversaries. The Bhagvad Gita
says, ‘Those who wish to garner without returning anything in exchange
essentially act as thieves.’
It is paramount to train
our minds to become learners, acquiring fresh skill sets to grow. Life keeps
teaching us several lessons. It was a wakeful and alert mind which responded to
the vexed situation of disbursing cash to hapless customers through embracing
technology, circumventing hurdles.
Nandan Nilekani, the man
who spearheaded the Unique Identification Authority of India during Dr Singh’s
tenure maintains a contrarian view. Conceding that short-term pain is
inevitable, he is of the firm opinion that digitisation of the economy which
was once envisioned in 3 to 6 years would now occur within 3 to 6 months.
The ballast for these
changes were unwittingly cushioned in the past, particularly over the last
seven years. The glasnost and perestroika of the change have been laid through the
dispensation of Aadhar Cards, the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), the
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), through the proliferation of
micro ATMs and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna.
The state of Goa - which
has a population of 15 lacs, 22 lac bank accounts and 18 lac mobile phones- can
be a perfect laboratory to examine the cashless model.
Demonetisation is an
audacious dream. Only those with passionate dreams can destroy the demons of
doubts in their minds. Steve Jobs was pregnant with imaginative thoughts and
unvarnished devilry. He went out to revolutionize six industries.
Maya Angelou says, ‘I’ve
learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ For the millions standing
in the extended queues, this is the one glimmer of hope that there will be a
transparent economy, that it pays to be honest.
Catch 22 or Cash 22, will
be known when Arun Jaitley rises to present the Union Budget on 1st
February, 2017.
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