The other day a close friend wrote to me.
"Bob, if you don't like India, why do you stay here?"
A fair question.
My answer was simple.
"I stay because I love my country. I complain because I love my country."
If your child is sick, you don't abandon the child. You try to cure the illness. And one of India's biggest illnesses is corruption.
Now before he accuses me of being negative again, let me point to something all of us experience every day.
Our roads.
Forget economic surveys. Forget political speeches. Forget television debates where six people shout simultaneously while nobody listens.
Just step onto an Indian road.
Within five minutes you will see a practical demonstration of how corruption works.
A red light is merely a suggestion. A lane is a decorative concept. A zebra crossing is an artistic design painted for tourists.
A helmet hangs from the handlebar instead of sitting on the rider's head. Three people sit on a motorcycle, a fourth balances a gas cylinder, and all of them appear deeply offended if you suggest there may be a safety issue.
India consistently ranks among the most dangerous countries in the world for driving. Experts often point to inconsistent enforcement of traffic laws.
Notice that phrase. Not lack of laws. Not lack of rules. Not lack of police.
Inconsistent enforcement.
Which is a polite international way of saying that rules exist, but many people know they can get away with breaking them.
Two years ago we drove around the United Kingdom for nearly a month. There were stretches where we hardly saw another vehicle. Sometimes for miles there was nobody around.
Yet drivers stopped at red lights. They obeyed speed limits. They gave way when required.
Nobody seemed tempted to test whether the law was watching.
In India, many drivers seem to believe traffic rules only apply when a policeman is visible.
And sadly, many policemen seem to appear only where revenue, influence or opportunity exists.
We keep talking about building wider roads, bigger flyovers and more expressways.
Wonderful.
But perhaps what we need even more is accountability.
Not just for drivers. For those responsible for enforcing the law. A nation does not become orderly because it pours more concrete. A nation becomes orderly when rules are applied fairly and consistently.
Want to see corruption at work? Do not look at secret files. Do not search for hidden scandals.
Stand at any busy Indian junction. The chaos before your eyes is corruption at work.
And yes, I feel like smiling sadly at that friend and saying, “it’s time you take what I’m saying seriously, before you jump onto a plane to leave the country, and fly back after eight hours in the air, because a corrupt engineer had not checked the engines properly, and another had certified the plane, airworthy...!
The Author conducts an online, eight session Writers and Speakers Course. If you’d like to join, do send a thumbs-up to WhatsApp number 9892572883 or send a message to bobsbanter@gmail.com
