Almost everyone I have spoken to in India makes reference, either directly or in passing, to the corruption that threads its way through all Indian society. The story of "Mr Ten Percent" is a running gag with more than a little truth -- think I first heard it in reference to Indonesia so it must be cross cultural.
At times like that I am a proud Canadian - I would no more know how to give a bribe than to accept one -- but today I had news from home.
I understand that our Prime Minister is proroguing parliament, leaving an incomplete parliamentary agenda and allowing him to escape scrutiny on alleged torture in Afganistan. That is bad enough, though there will be those who rationalize it somehow and, as the PM well knows, most voters will not know what a prorogation is and will care even less.
But we should all care that parliamentary committees have called government MPs to testify before the inquiry and they have not shown up. That the committee asks for documents that are never produced and that no one holds this or any other government accountable. And don't for a moment think the Libs did not do that, and worse, when they were in power.
It is not a far step from this to "Mr Ten Percent" as the sponsorship scandal showed us all too well.
Suddenly, I am not so smug here in India. If your name is "Mr Ten Percent", India runs very smoothly.
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Our India
Cameron, Chris and Heather will travel to Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, during the 3 days before Alex arrives. We meet Alex and then set out from Delhi in the north. We travel mainly in Rajasthan, in what is called the Golden Triangle. We will visit the Taj Mahal in Agra, Jodhpur, Jaipur, often called the Pink City, Udaipur with a Palace that sits in the middle of a lake, and Pushkar, which every year has a big camel fair. Then Alex and Chris return home to university. Heather and Cameron continue and tour through parts of the south, starting in Chennai and Madurai, both in Tamil Nadu. We drive through the Western Ghats arriving in Cochin and the backwaters of Kerala. Mumbai ends our trip and home to Canada.
2 comments:
Forget the politics and stick to the description of your trip. Otherwise Stevie-boy may hit you with an attack add.
Forgetting politics is just what most Canadians do -- vigilence is the key
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