Rajnee thi…

 

Every time a non Rajni fan watches a Rajni movie their utter bewilderement is far more exaggerating than Rajni’s stunts themselves. But at this moment I think of Rajni’s block buster Sivaji which dealt with the subject of black money. My thoughts strayed towards superstar Rajni after watching some discussions on the subject of black money on Twitter initiated by Pritish Nandy. In the movie Sivaji, Rajni valiantly states while flipping chewing gum in the air that humongous amounts of wealth are stashed away in Swiss Bank accounts. I cannot recall the exact amount that he had said in his dramatic dialogue but it sounded exaggerated. However, reports as of April last year have stated that black money stashed away could be to the tune of 70 lakh crores ( I may have missed a zero too )and it was beginning to sound even more incredible than Rajni’s own incredibility.

Most are guilty at some point of their lives. Some fall prey to hoarding of wealth, amassing it to his own defined proportions and avoid paying taxes. The amount that is black in nature varies from individual to individual. It is not only the ultra rich who are good at this catch me if you can game, the middle class is as guilty. Property sales in India remains a profitable area to conceal transacted values. The agreed price between the buyer and the seller on most transactions is at least 30% to 40% higher ( and more ) than what is on paper. The buyer benefits in paying a lower property registration fee / stamp duty  and the seller in terms of non declaring the full proceeds in his assessable income under capital gains. This is only one reason why such transactions occur. If the buyer and seller do not wish to reveal the trail of transactions then “benami” registrations are common. The chain is rather long in most such transactions and the babu who sits in the Government offices has an itching palm. The babu demands a bribe for moving files, he demands a bribe for getting the property registered and he also demands a bribe for turning a blind eye towards the value of the registered property. All links in this chain have accumulated black money, top down.My point of talking about property registrations is that this is one area amongst a myriad others where most bypass the law. There is of course black money that is made from illegal trades from the arms trade to drug trafficking to human trafficking to human organ trafficking. Even begging in India is a big time business. Some of these beggars earn more money than you and I, guess who is the needy one now? The list is endless. Even traders do not issue bills and escape paying sales tax, service tax, customs and so forth.

Back to my favorite movie Sivaji, Rajni uses his typical ”Rajnee thi” tactics and with a group of his sidekicks bashes the living daylights out of tax evaders. In fact he uses a warehouse for storing gunny bags of cash that he gets back from the evaders and uses the same cash to develop villages in a glorifying manner. Our fantasy to eradicate the black money racket starts and ends in movies. At least we have a hero who can make this happen in reel life and maybe we should get him to do this in real life too if he puts his foot in the dark world of Indian politics.The policy makers of this country will never take any strict action against those who have stacked away their cash in Swiss banks and unlike what is happening in the US, where the IRS has tightened disclosure requirements for its citizens and corporations alike, India will sit like a flightless duck that only quacks. The policy makers themselves remain the biggest accumulators of black money in the brotherhood of evaders. The big brother in India is a blind boy.

What can we do? Many come up with excuses that they do not pay taxes because the Government is anyway corrupt and swallows up the tax money and the Government does not spend enough for the welfare of the state. Yes, the netas swallow our money and burp on our faces but this is no excuse. So long as there is one among ten of us who think and do the right thing, there will also be one among ten in responsible positions in the Government too who will do the right thing.We all need to adopt flashy Rajni’s art of living and dealing. Lets wear our dark glasses but lets not be blind to what is happening around us. Lets stylishly flip coins in the air but lets ensure that when the coins fall, the right number fall in public coffers. Lets beat up those greedy babus who stretch their hands out demanding a bribe for issuing a license or registering our property. A tip to tackle the baddie, watch the video –

No, we do not have to be so over the top really.Have you tried yelling at these people? You may not succeed in getting your file moved to the next table, there are bound to be delays, but the earful you can give these people does embarrass a few not so thick-skinned buffaloes. You can shame them, use expletives if you must but do not go with the flow. We must stop participating in what has now become a national past time, bribery and lethargy. Why should we pay those who are meant to be doing their jobs. The next time you get caught for a traffic offence, do not wag a five hundred rupee note in front of the sooty traffic inspector’s face, instead get him to give you a slip, insist on it and pay up at the station. If more of us start doing this, the cops too will not unnecessarily catch us and will get jaded that he cannot fill his pockets. I have NRI friends who regret not living in India. When I ask them what is it about India that you miss, pat comes the reply ” In India we can do anything, life is cool”.Patriotism is never the reason, the way of life always is.

I complain far too much about everything around me, the change must start in me and then I will complain more. In parting, a punch dialogue from Rajni - En vazhi ? thani vazhi.”– “My way is a unique way.”There is nothing Rajni Kant and there is nothing we cant!