Sitting at the Cafe, I can't help but overhear a conversation that a mother is having with her young daughter(looks no more than 12yrs old). The child wants 2 know what corruption means. Mothers reply : "Beta agar hum Shanti ke paise le lein(I am assuming Shanti is the maid) aur apne ghar kharch mein use karein to usse corruption kehte hain. Anna uncle isi liye fight ker rahe hain. Papa agar tax nahin denge to police unhe pakad legi par agar politicians tax nahi de to koi unhe nahi pakad ta". (If we take our maid Shanti's money and use it to buy things for ourselves then that is called corruption. If your dad doesn't pay his taxes then the Police would punish him,but when politicians don't pay takes no one holds them accountable). The daughter's eyes are all lit up. "Anna is brave mumma", she says. No matter where we stand on the issue of fasting, Anna has brought about a remarkable change. People are now talking about corruption not as a sad inevitable reality but as an evil worth fighting against and defeating.
I am still eavesdropping. I can hear words such as "Kalmadi" and "CWG". The mother goes on to say :"agar aap home-work nahi karoge to teacher diary mein complaint likhti hai na. agar woh na likhe to partiality hoti hai. Government ne Kalmadi ki complaint nahi Kari tabhi Anna uncle keh rahe hain ki sab logon ko punish karo" (If you don't do the home-work then your teachers writes a complaint in your dairy. If she doesn't do her duty properly then its called partiality. The government did not complain about Kalmadi. Therefore Anna uncle wants to punish everyone). The daughter is now totally quiet. She digs her fork into the waffles. But her mood is pensive. I am now trying to read her face. Poor child. What would she be thinking about all the "big", elderly people around her? " Mummy how long will it take?"she finally asks. The mother hasn't really heard her, or she is buying time. She right now is tending to her other daughter. This daughter is still younger , she is jumping and points at a magazine cover with the picture of a man climbing. She says"mumma big mountain per chadhne mein time lagta hai"( Mumma, it takes long to climb up a big mountain). Mumma forgets about corruption and Anna. She replies "haan aur chote mountain per chadhne mein kam time lagta hai. Par jab aap chadh jaaoge to bohot mazza aata hai"( yes, and it takes less time to climb a smaller one but once you have reached the top and achieved the feat then its a wonderful feeling and you have great fun).
Now this is random conversation. But guess the answer to the question "mumma how long will it take?" lies in there. Its a tall hard mountain climb- our fight against corruption. We will be faced with many challenges, many questions - one of the first will be if the climb is at all worth it. We might loose our way, take the same beaten track or probably find a new course to reach the top, there might be dearth of oxygen and food on our journey. People will tell us to either turn back during bad whether or climb some other "chotta" mountain but through all the doubts, fears and suspense we need to only remember what the mother said"ek baar upar pahunch jaao to bada mazza aayega"(once you reach the top then you have a great time!)
I don't want to be bogged now by the intricacies of the Jan Lok Pal Bill, the parliament and its reputation and the media circus. I just know Anna has turned a banal coffee table chit chat into the most important lesson the 12 yr old child will always remember in her life. "Jab government partiality Kare to use punish hona chahiye"(if the government is being unfair and partial then it should be punished). Anna is the harbinger of this new change. Topis off to him for that. Now the mother has asked for the bill and I can eavesdrop on nothing interesting.
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