Rakesh Manchanda
A review of Bollywood blockbuster `Laagan` released in June-2001 can unfold several hidden lessons. Prayers to rain Gods failed. Due to no rain the harvest was poor & peasants protested. People wanted to change their destiny and get the tax waved off. Hindu king who was controlled by British Law expressed his helplessness. Movey shows how an unwise colonial Tax System brings 99% indigenous farmers together. Small village of Champaner in North India in 1890s decided to fight for its honour and self respect .Stakes were high. Deal was finalised. If village team beats the British team in a game of cricket their taxes for three years would be cancelled. If they loose farmers shall pay three times land tax in shape of crops. With no aids like proper batting pads & no training the barefooted `desi` team of Aamir Khan was ready to face the challenge.
Army Cricket team lost the match. Defeat of the English team forced a change in Army. Cantonment was disbanded. Captain Russell was forced to pay the taxes for the whole province as his “cricket deal” was unauthorised. He was further punished & transferred to Central Africa.
Independent India still fights for justice and cries for effective laws. Unlike bloody wars games demonstrate a country`s united readiness and courage. All rich and poor stakeholders in Cricket enjoy ball by ball micro details. Careful audit on each and every run scored and saved shows how important transparency is for maximising the fun and happiness of the game. Recovery called “paisa vasol” is celebrated. No one can steal or hide the profit of the runs scored & saved. Lost matches with weakness and dropped catches are analysed.The show goes on. Can we apply Cricket transparency with peoples participation to our daily Governance ?
India today is crying to get free from corruption. People work hard but team rewards in shape of profits & security get stolen. In ancient India kings used to hide profit in temples in the shape of gold. Today corporate pay extra to CEOs who help them to hide money produced as profit in a Swarg called Tax Heavens. Corporate fix leaders to get their favours passed but keep the rest workers insecure. CEOs help investors to steal money from the `wheel of production` and pump it in the `wheel of speculation` or `wheel of gamble` called share baazar. Share Baazar promises faster but unproductive growth.Government-Corporate-Bankers nexus in actual controls share market. This collaboration steals away the hard earned money of the majority 99%.Stealing & hiding the profit unlike in Cricket format is made possible with clever audit.No transparency & with no participation of real producers also helps. Profit monitoring team and production team is kept disconnected.
In Cricket rich and poor love to keep the minute by minute statistic of runs produced with `profit & loss` in shape of possibility to win & lose. My game, my nation, my joy, my information, my sharing with all concerned is excelled & shaped. Sticking points remain collective ownership & holistic participation in this religion. Imagine a cricket match with `no rules`, `no wide balls`, `no limited overs` and no cheering & no hooting crowds. Connect the dotes and we see a boring game.With no rewards and with no punishments. Carry it forward we see the pitch of Indian Ministry & Business work culture in India. Disconnected lobbies of excellence as small islands in a business team is essential. Disconnection is designed in the system & is not a default. This keeps the system weak and unsafe. Result ? Ask the home ministry to produce a list of 50 Pakistan trained terrorists as happened in the recent past and you shall find a goof up.
Right to recall the non performing player in a game is possible. Same rule cannot be applied in Business of law making in the Parliament. Right to vote is only after 5 years. During last FIFA in South Africa, we learned as to why a player is replaced if football gets stuck with his foot for more then 20-30 seconds. Fast sharing of football in the team is essential. Audience can build a pressure and force a change via selectors. Stakeholders in shape of audience and investers hoot and shout when the ball is lost in the crowd even for few seconds. Politicians shout and delay for all wrong reasons to block a bill in the Parliament. The recent victims are Lokpal Bill & Women Reservation Bill.
What goes wrong with the luck of a team ?
The space called `luck` is reduced by practise, calibrations of skills and shooting of goals. The speed and demand to deliver every minute every second is so high that there is no time to fall back on business direction and services of experts during the real match. When democracy is strong & stakeholders as watchdogs are alert the luck is replaced by honest match winning skills. There is no twisting of rules and laws for personal gains. Fair wealth distribution based on skills can increase the income of 99% & the markets can survive.
Information in a business pitch is blocked by match fixing. Profit transformed in shape of dirty money or black money parked in tax heavens refuses to get recovered. Excuses are designed. Any country`s finance ministry knows how many notes were printed by the Reserve Bank & how much is parked outside. Chances of corrupt match fixing is there but is very less or can be reduced. Pressure of `rich and poor` stakeholders with modern technology helps build a simple system which controls and checks the transparency. Referee as a `human control` can also error which people and player understand.
Politics and daily running of governance under ministry shall always remain boring if rules to control corruption are not fixed. From stadium to Sansad(Parliament) people need to collectively apply simple systems for a corruption free governance. If egg is broken by outside force, life ends and if broken by inside force, life begins. Let us act before it is too late.
