Lots of charcha over chai these days is all about Black Money.
Where it is?
How much there is?
How will it be brought back?
When will it be brought back?
Will it be distributed amongst us? How much shall we get?
However, I feel quite confused, at times.
Can money be black or white? Nearly every one of us tries and wants to make a lot of money. Some succeed and some do not. Some use honest means to earn money, while others do not hesitate in extracting that money forcefully or use their position to extort money unjustifiably. Some lament that they, despite all their efforts, could not manage to earn in that magnitude as they wanted. Some of us, who belong to this category, wistfully and longingly look at those who have huge stacks piled up…
However, even they who have that kind of huge stacks of money, have worked hard for it, isn’t it? They have either used their creativity or position to extract and because others needed their skills or services, they paid money to them. Aren’t people and their intentions supposed to be black or white?
Doctors demand hefty amounts for surgeries; Police officials demand huge amounts to listen to us or to not listen to some; the elected representatives demand huge sums to grant a road-repair contract or a licence for a Bar or a petrol pump. We need them all. We want them to do our work. We want them to adopt nefarious methods and do as we desire. We seek short-cuts. We want rules to be ignored or side-lined. A parent who does not want a minor bike-accident case registered against his 20-year old son to proceed further or a common man who bribes a municipal officer for a water connection—are all one of us. There are so many of us with multiple concerns, that what is justified and what is not, is a grey area. The poor and middle classes struggle for survival and making ends meet, while the rich amongst us scramble for contracts, tenders and licenses. Whatever may be the reason, but is our obsession with our self-interest, not black?
Some of us adulterate food; some adulterate building materials; some of us play with lives by prescribing drugs which will give us paid-for vacations in return, and some of us play with lives by agreeing to let the enemy inside the country, in exchange for liquor or cash… Are our intentions not black, when we brazenly and shamelessly stab our society and nation in the back?
The money that people thus earn but not declare it to the government and do not pay tax thereon, is labelled as Black Money. One estimate, coupled with mild guesses, points that the Black Money stashed abroad could be in the range of $500 billion to a couple of trillion dollars. A huge staggering sum, isn’t it? Wow!!! Imagine, if all of it returns to India, we could be transformed for ever… But, really? Will it transform us?
When Black Money shall become White, will our intentions and contentions transform too—from being Black to White? Our tax coffers will be full. For how long, though? Will our politicians’ hearts and souls also change colours? Will they not cast their eyes on that returned Black Money? Assuming the impossible-- that it may so happen, a wave of developmental projects might then commence… When that happens, will that black money which has been turned into white money, erase the blackness in the hearts of those who will seek and grab those developmental contracts?
Will our contractors then build bridges and buildings which will not collapse and kill? Will our municipal schools then prepare mid-day meals which will not kill? Will our doctors carry out such surgeries, as will not blind, maim or kill? Will the black drudgery that envelops our police stations and government hospitals and municipal schools vanish? Will everything become white? When a common man will get a share of that black-turned-white money, will he or she not use that money to secure out-of-the-turn gas connections or school admissions or tatkal railway tickets? Will we see a transformed India wherein people will be so overjoyed at the return of the Black Money to our land that we shall not indulge in any black deed? Is there any chance then that, we might not kill each other or our animals or choke our water bodies? Will we not let our enemies inside our land? With that black-turned-white money, will our air become breathable and food eatable?
Will we simply erase all that is Black within, amidst and around us? Probably, when money shall turn white, our souls too shall follow, and become white or at least, grey. Will we then respect each other; each other’s thoughts; each other’s emotions; each other’s opinions and each other’s very existence?
However, on thinking a bit deeply about the confusion that surrounds me, I realise that getting the Black money back home may or may not be THAT significant; may or may not yield the desired results. However, there are those hearts which are Black and those which are White. The white hearts are feeling threatened owing to their minority status. Very few of them are surviving now… Their heart-beats have slowed down considerably. Before these white hearts begin turning grey, the Black hearts must be treated. And, the most beautiful fact is that to do this healing, we do not have to go abroad and get anything… The remedy; the cure is here, in India. There are two places where the cure could be. Either, in our age-old wise texts and scriptures… Read, understand, and we shall know the meaning of life and the value of good conduct that illuminates the heart and the soul. Or, the other possible place where the cure may be found could be in the depth of one’s own Heart.