Has Anna managed to change the mood of India?

Imagine for a moment a cricket match between India and Ireland. How much euphoria do you think it generates? What do you think about the TRPs it will get? Can you imagine the number of working people or students who will skip offices or bunk classes to watch that match? hmm... I guess more or less, the answer would be, not much.

And now, imagine a cricket match between India and Pakistan. Interesting, isn't it? A high profile, mouthwatering contest. Far more intense, electrifying and full of anticipation. Very high number of people watching and commenting on the game. This match would generate incredible interest and the TRPs would bounce over the roof. More so, no matter whoever wins the game, the real beneficiary would always be the game of cricket itself.

So what do you get out of it???

Interestingly, when you have a collision of two strong forces, not only does it generate more involvement from stakeholders but also a higher degree of expectation. People love to see action between two solid forces. They don’t like one sided battles.

For the last few years in India, people were tired of the political situation where the opposition has been practically nonexistent. It has been in such a disarray while taking up issues with the incumbent government that the situation seemed more like a cricket match between India and Ireland. So ineffective has the political opposition been that Indians had resigned to the fact that even though this government is corrupt there is hardly any available alternative.

I remember discussions as little as six months back and people would say, corruption, so what? is the opposition any better?

Nobody wanted to be a part of any initiative undertaken by the opposition in order to corner the government against corruption. Why? Because people did not trust them. People were not confident that the current opposition can do anything better than the incumbent government. There was a general sense of pessimism and things were not looking good.

So what has changed now?

Well, interestingly what seems to have changed is the ‘opposition’. Anna and his team seems to have emerged as a much stronger and credible force than the entire fragmented political opposition put together. Their entry has suddenly turned this battle from a boring ‘India vs Ireland’ to an exciting ‘India vs Pakistan’ battle. It has become far more exciting and people want to be a part of it. Atleast the television visuals from across the country seem to suggest that.

What is interesting to note about this battle between the government and the new opposition (Civil society represented by Anna's team) is, whoever wins it, the real beneficiary would be the game. In this case, the people of India.

Anna has not only presented a much credible face to the anti corruption movement, but also galvanized support from all sections of the society. There are far more number of people involved in this match and they are ready to skip work, school and collages to be a part of it. I am not for a moment suggesting that what Anna and his team are presenting (Jan Lokpal) is the only way out, but today I am optimistic. My mood has changed and so has the mood of India. Suddenly there is life and there is a hope.

I was not around when India struggled for freedom, but for me this one is nothing short of another freedom struggle.

Jai Hind.