Me, My Family, My Community, My Nation

Notes:
1. My reference to 'He/Him" is a reference to an individual - male or female. Please do not read sexist motivations here. :)
2. We/us refers to India Against Corruption and all other organizations that are working together for getting rid of corruption in India.


Consider the title - Me, My Family, My Community, My Nation and try to characterize the person who belongs to each of these categories.

"Me" - Person is obsessed with himself - self-centered and greedy.
"My Family" - An image of a hardworking person pops up. Working tirelessly to fulfill the needs of other family members. He is willing to sacrifice his needs and defend the family come what may. He is willing to challenge anyone when there is a threat to his loved ones in the family.
"My Community" - Common perception is that a person who says "My Community" is either a "do-gooder" or a person who is working for one specific demographic. You would imagine he is making calls, managing functions, arranging local meets etc. All his weekends and nights are busy with social activities.
Family takes a back seat. He is out there working for others and does not care about his family.
"My Nation" - A person who says "My Nation" has to be subhash chandra bose reborn. His scope transcends community, caste or religion. He is working day and night for some cause. He is away from his family all the time. It is assumed that he made that choice. "My Nation" means no "My Family".

We have type-casted people in these roles. So, when you pick up one role, you have to sacrifice the other. And when you pick one cause, you have to give up the other.
Now, it is fine if you vegetate for hours in front of computer or television but if the same time is spent for "My Community" or "My Nation" then that is not good or useful. That means you have moved over to a new class and are sacrificing your family.
However, that is a very parochial view. If we want the well-being of our families then we must realize that it is related to what happens in the community and in the nation.
Consider the physical security of our houses. In India, we have solid concrete houses, additional metal grills on doors and windows. However, we feel safer in houses with glass doors here in USA. Again, my point is not to criticize India or to elevate USA. Lighting on the streets, roads, public safety, security, basic health care, basic education etc. are all needed for everyone. The community has to be good.

The wellbeing of our families is possible only if the community is taken care of. The wellbeing of community is possible only if the state and national policies that govern the local policies are sound.
The "My family" person thinks that the best he can do is to work hard and satisfy the basic requirements of his family. The rest is up to fate because he cannot influence anything else. This theory is partly right. An individual will be ineffective but when he is a part of a collective intelligent group he will be able to assert himself. This requires intelligent individuals to come together. It needs you to contribute some time for "My Community".
There are times when influencing the local community is not sufficient. This is one of those times. We need a national movement and a citizen movement for a right lokpal bill is one such movement. An effective lokpal bill will transform the politics of this nation. We do not want to vote because our choice is always between bad and worse candidate. We cannot get a good politician because the policy environment discourages and stifles clean politics.
The rules of the game have to change. 
Lokpal is meant to get rid of corruption in the public offices. There are a lot of eminent personalities - ex-justices, ex-IAS/IPS officers, social reformers, religious leaders etc. that are actively pushing for an effective lokpal bill. It is our responsibility to support them - as an individual, as a family, as a community and as a nation.
Now, what does support mean. We are not expecting people to sacrifice all their time to patrol the streets at odd hours. In the spectrum of national activism ranging from people who practically live in it to the people who just click "Like" button on facebook, you can chose your pick.
First read about it. Go to http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org./ Understand what it means and how it affects you.  If you want to take my word then know that it DOES affect you.
Please do the following simple things to let us know you care -
1. "Like" the page www.facebook.com/IndiACor.
2. There are lot of NRIs around the world who are working for this cause. (nriac.org). Please "Like" the NJ page is www.facebook.com/iacnj1.
3. If you are in NJ , join indiaagainstcorruption_NJ. Similarly, find your local group from
"city movements" in nriac.org.
If a weak lokpal bill is passed, it will take years/decades to improve our government infrastructure. The country will keep losing billions of dollars. You will lose too and without realizing it.

There are a lot of us for this cause but we are still very few compared to what we should be. We are together but still lonely. We are, however, very determined.
We will show our support for "India Against Corruption" in whatever way possible. We will try our best to make everyone aware. We think this is the cause which will help our nation, our community, our families and us.

We are asking for some support. We are asking you to realize that there is a chance that things will get better for our families and us.  If we are willing to commute for an hour longer everyday in the hope that our kids get better schools then is it not possible to put a couple of hours a week for this? Is not possible to walk with us for 30 min? and just let us know that you care? And all this so our families, our communities and our nation becomes better. 

I know a lot of people are skeptical of this - Nothing is going to happen, we will be wasting our time etc. Yes it possible that nothing comes out of this but it is also possible that things change.

Remember what the great Rabindranath Tagore said when India was still under the British rule - "Faith is a bird that sees the light and sings when the dawn is still dark."

 Are you that bird?      Are you with us?