I am an ordinary citizen of a grandiose country, proud to boast about few things, modestly accepting many. All we can do is read in print or media discuss within our four walls and then silently wait for another. Latest in the air is AgustaWestland scam. A for Augusta, B for Bofors, C for Commonwealth ... V for Vayapam and so on. We can assign one to every alphabet! Dishonest methods to acquire hundred of crores is defined as the scam, An average in math like me can't even figure out how many zeros it requires.
It's heartrending to read the names of defence admirals, politicians, babus and secretaries all joining hands together to rip off the integrity of the country they are serving for! The story of AgustaWestland says a deal worth rupees 3,600 crores was done to acquire 12 VVIP helicopters in 2010, which was six folds higher than the regular price. Later the deal was scrapped due to corruption allegation and for a kickback of some 400 crores only. But in due process country got three choppers and lost many crores!
An ordinary citizen like me listens to such stories and then gets back to mundane routine. It does not matter who took the money as we know it has gone to drain. But a thought that tickles me is, do such politicians ever imagine the scenes of rooftops of our buses and trains loaded with people risking their lives to reach back home? Have they ever noticed one auto rickshaw carrying twenty children to school? Have they ever saw daily wagers cycling on highways to achieve to their sites, or a rickshaw-puller riding his age-old rickshaw - before asking a kick back for a chopper which has cabin height of 1.8 meters? Dear babus, we all Indians are of average height 5 to 6 feet, we all require basic safety standards. If this money had not gone to drain, we could have had achieved many such standards.
With bleeding heart and agony in mind, like to do some mockery. Lend those three choppers to taxi drivers who are sitting idle these days, blocking roads here and there. Let them fly AW101 and let a common man travel in regal babu style! At least some money will come back! In the meantime hand over the investigation to Agatha Christie :)
