Dr K K Aggarwal

In what direction would Anna’s fast end?

Most Satyagraha should end up in a win-win situation. No party should seem to look that they have won. What can happen during a Satyagraha?

1.   The fast is broken after demands are met.

2.   The demands are not met but the fast is broken on the promises made.

3.   The demands are not met but the fast is broken after a committee is constituted to look into the demands.

4.   The fast is broken on the mediation by a religious or an important person in the society.

5.    The fast is broken after the President of the country intervenes.

6.  The fast is broken on medical grounds.

7.   The fast is broken by the order of a court.

8.   The fast is broken on the intervention of local administration or the local police.

9.   The fast is broken on the request of the followers.

10.   Some shift from complete fast to a relay fast.

What makes a wave?

As we have been witnessing over the last few days, there is an ‘Anna wave’ in the country. People of all ages, from all walks of life have come out on the streets in large numbers in support of Anna Hazare. Till about few months back, Anna Hazare was a relatively unknown name to most people. Since then, he has become the biggest name in the country. A new term has been coined. Just like Gandhigiri, Annagiri is the talk of the town.

What is the reason for this wave of support? Why has there been such an upsurge of people?

The success of a wave depends on the subject and is based on the principles of truthfulness, non violence and sarvodaya i.e. welfare for all. Anna Hazare stands for all these three principles.

For a wave to spread across the entire nation, it must cover one percent of the population. This can be explained by the 100th–monkey phenomenon.

“Long time back there was a monkey called Emo in a far off village in Japan. Monkeys at that time used to eat apples lying in the gardens full of dust. One day Emo by mistake washed the apple in the pond before eating. From then onwards he washed every apple he ate. The message went from one monkey to the second monkey and then to the third and so on. Many monkeys started washing apples before eating. After sometime, some neighboring monkeys from other villages also started washing their apples before eating. The day the 100th monkey washed the apple and ate it, a strange phenomenon was observed all over the country. Monkeys all over the country started washing apples before eating. The critical mass in that area therefore was 100. Once the critical mass was achieved, the information spread like wildfire to each and every monkey and everybody started washing apples before eating.”

In campaigning also the politicians make use of this principle and make sure that the critical mass is achieved to start with. In local political meetings also, the same principle of 1% critical mass is used. For a gathering of 1000 people, politicians make sure that they have minimum 10 of their own people are sitting in the audience to initiate clapping. When 10 people clap, the rest 990 will also follow and clap. Similarly, for a gathering of 2000 they will need 20 people and for 10,000 they will need 100 people.

When you want to pass on a message to the audience, it has to be flashed for at least 10 seconds. The mind cannot remember what it had seen or heard for less than 10 seconds. The politicians will highlight what they want to say and pass on hurriedly what they do not want the people to remember.

If Anna Hazare is able to capture one percent of the people, which he appears to have achieved, then this movement would become nationwide. This critical mass of one percent, once achieved, is the reason why ideas and movement spontaneously spread among the general population.

Time to awaken sleeping “Anna” in each one of us

Buddha represents the “enlightened one”. Buddha is a state of mind and not a person. So is Anna today. He represents the corruption–free state of mind. Anna represents the Satvik state of mind in each one of us, which is not under the influence of Tamas or Rajas.

Each one of us is controlled by the duality of mind and instead of taking the right actions we end up by taking the convenient action. The convenient action gives us the immediate gains while the right action is tough and may not give immediate results.

Indulging in corruption is the most convenient way of getting any work done. We tend to buy movie tickets in black, give money to electricians to get the electricity fixed up, buy goods in cash to save sales tax, bribe babus to get petty government works done and so on.

The time has come to waken up the sleeping “Anna” in each one of us. We should pledge that from today we will neither give bribes nor accept bribe from any one. As professionals, we will not give or accept commissions.

Let us become Satyugi living in Kalyuga and not Kalyugi living in Kalyuga. Even though we might be a minority, we as a group of Satyugi can make an impact in Kalyuga.

The awakened ‘Anna’ within us will give us the strength to fight with the corrupt in the society.