Stung

In the sixty odd years of independence that India has experienced, never has there been so much hope for a good future. The electronic media and the internet have changed all that. People will think twice before demanding a bribe.

The all - powerful mass media (it's not just an elitist phenomenon) of India is at it right now. And when the masses of India go into something in a big way, there is little that can stop it. Look at Hindi movies that the masses love. Bollywood is the biggest movie maker in the world! Nothing can stop it right now. Neither can anything stop the Tamil movies in the south.

For now, news broadcasting is almost equalling Bollywood in popularity. The man on the street right now is has one more weapon - information. He knows what is happening in the world. No longer is he fed by state run propagandist Door-Darshan. He is greeted by handsome men and pretty women on the twenty odd news channels that Indian cable has to offer.

And the media stings every now and then. It started with that Tehelka scandal (more or less). It embarassed Bollywood by showing an actor bedding aspiring actresses; and now it has exposed something that was gnawing away at the very fabric of democracy. Corruption. The recent stings on "bribe-takers" (for just doing their job) have got every political party jittery (perhaps except RJD, where they would have probably given the guy a medal or something).

College principals, politicians and other people in"power" shall now think twice before demanding that customary "wad" of money.

The trudge towards real democracy in India is well underway. What an exciting time to be alive.