Types of readers: An article for writers

Once a garment store owner told me, "Your acquaintances are the ones who will never visit your store. So, you have to disregard them first when opening a store."

Though I didn't open a store, I discovered a similar behavior in people after writing three books. I am sure I couldn't have realized the same had I not written the books. Here is my experience I wanted to share with you all. In case you are a writer or aspiring to be one, my observations may help you.

So, here is a list of all kinds of readers/non-readers you come across after investing months into writing and publishing your book:

Encouragers: They buy your book irrespective of the fact that they don't read much or they are not interested in the topic you have written on. They may never read the book. But they spread the word and show the book to everyone they can. They are genuinely proud of you.

Well-wishers: They buy the book and read it irrespective of the fact that they don't read much or they are not interested in the topic you have written on. They ignore the minor mistakes you've made in the book. They also help you by spreading the word and posting positive reviews.

Not-a-big-deal type: The moment you tell them about your book, they say, "My nephew also wrote a poem and posted it on social media." They may hit the Like button on your social media posts about the book. However, they will never remember the name of your book.

Blind advisors: They are not at all interested in your book. They will never be able to manage to write even a paragraph in their life. But they message you and congratulate you. Then they ask you why you have chosen the subject, why not some other subject. They provide you with readership data, marketing tips, etc. They never read your book. They are not into reading.

Ever-aspiring writers: They don't listen to you much. They tell you that they also want to write a book but never get time and that you could write because you have all the time in the world.

How Come! Let Me See type: They will buy your book and read it irrespective of the fact that they don't read much or they are not interested in the topic you have written on. They don't believe in your talent. They want to know how bad you are so they can tell it to the world.

Close ones but non-readers: They do not buy your book nor do they ask for a free copy. But out of courtesy, when you give them a free copy, they accept it with gratitude. They feel you are friendly with them and you value them. They also ask you to sign the book. For the rest of their life, the book will lie at the corner of their shelf. They will show people how many books they are yet to read.

Real unknown readers: They buy a copy, read it, and if they like it, they write their review on the site. Some even go to the extent of writing an email to you.

Reviewer friends: They buy your ebook when it is available free of cost. Then, they review your book. They highlight the mistakes in your book in their review post. They take the review task very seriously.

Honest friends: They honestly tell you that they are very proud of you and that they can't read your book because they have a different preference when it comes to the subject.

Then, what should you do? 

Keep writing.

Your writing should provide you with great satisfaction irrespective of whether anyone reads your books or not. Even if you are able to touch one heart with your writing, you are successful as a writer. Do you agree?

Companies Using Technology to Drive User Experience by Capitalizing the Blue Collared Workforce

In our daily lives, we come across a lot of things which we don’t pay heed to; however, they are sometimes capable of bringing in a huge impact on our present as well as future. I gave a thought to it after personally experiencing a few services from a few companies recently.

The first example is that of the eCommerce industry. I ordered a book online. As soon as, I ordered, I received a message and was informed to track my order. I followed the instruction. My order got dispatched and then shipped. The delivery boy came home and as soon as I paid him the amount and signed on his phone, I got a message saying the item is delivered to me.

The second example I would cite is of a cab I booked. As soon as I booked a cab, I got a message with the number of the driver. Immediately the driver called me and informed me about his location at that time and the duration he would take to reach the spot I was at. He asked me for the pin I received on my phone and entered the same pin in his device before starting the journey. Then, he entered my destination in his device and proceeded without asking me the route as his phone guided him adequately.

The third example is not something I experience daily. However, I believe there are many other personnel who are into such practices. It is of a telecommunication company who sent a person to my home after I complained of weak network. The person visited my house with a particular device and recorded the bandwidth I received at my location and sent it to the concerned department.

One of the activities of the Electricity department is the fourth example I want to call out. My electricity consumption meter was not working well. I complained of the same. One person visited me to verify the non-functioning of the meter. He just took his phone and recorded a video of the meter and sent the video to the concerned person in order to report and confirm the same issue.

Now, in all these four examples, there is one aspect that is common. The delivery person, the cab driver, the telecommunication representative, and the electricity department person – all are into blue collared jobs. A few years back, it would have been hard for me to imagine all this to happen so smoothly. In all the above four examples, I personally was very pleased to receive the kind of customer satisfaction I was provided with. At the advent of technology, it looks like companies are very well training the blue collared workforce to drive customer satisfaction in a way quite effective. And from my personal experience, I can definitely say that they are on the right path.

Evolving Payment Solutions

For many centuries, Currencies which had taken over the barter system long ago remained the favorite or only option for payments for the goods and services. It is only in the twenty first century when mankind came up with the new ways of payments. From swiping a credit or debit card on a device to clicking on a computer screen to tapping on smartphone, now you have a lot many options for payments. Thanks to all the other options, you don’t have the burden of carrying cash or currency notes when you go shopping these days. On top of that if you have a payment application on your smartphone, you don’t even have to swipe any cards.

Impact on Ease of Doing Business

The ease of doing business with the evolving payment solutions must not be justified without comparing it with the uneasiness during the currency-only phase. Earlier when you didn’t have the exact required amount for an individual payment, you needed to pay extra and ask for the remaining change or ask to keep the change. This entire process was not only inconvenient, but it was also tedious and time-consuming. With the new payment solutions, at least this issue has been resolved.

When a business received cash from its customers, it had to go to banks to deposit the amount daily or on a regular basis. Digital payment solutions help businesses skip this step by directly depositing the amount from the customers’ banks to that of the businesses. In a broader sense, new payment options brought transparency in payments, leaving less or no scope for corruption or discrepancy.

Security Implications

Just like any other change, evolving payment solutions have also come with their own demands, needs, drawbacks, or concerns. Security implications and regulatory concerns are the two major factors that cannot be ignored at this premature stage.

The following examples can be cited as prominent data security threats out of many in the recent times.

• A malware had infected the network of Hitachi ATMs two years back. The hackers could access login credentials and engage in covert transactions whereas the company could do nothing more than asking its users to stop using ATMs before issuing fresh cards.
•  Recently, a group of hackers gained the private information of over six million users after breaching the security of British Mobile Company. The stolen data was used for purchasing mobile accessories and the unsuspecting users had to bear the expenses for those purchases.

The privacy risks posed by the digital payments harm consumers, businesses, and markets alike. By paying online, consumers expose their account details to a platform, making the account vulnerable enough for fraudulent practices. However, with tight data security from both the ends of the consumers and the businesses or applications, any threat can definitely be avoided.

Some payments systems may suffer from vulnerabilities if they were not prospectively designed based on the Privacy by Design principles. The centralized storage of data may be risky at the back-end whereas at the front-end, it will enable data misuse in case there are faulty capture devices. Payment systems must be designed to protect privacy; they should carry unbreachable encryption and open standards to avoid the possibility of data being transmitted.

Kiki Del Valle, Mastercard’s senior vice-president of commerce for every device, says “We are providing the consumers with the tools they need in the Internet of Things era.”  To ensure security of payments, Mastercard has unveiled a few Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for card issuers, which is expected to provide consumers with a single view of the location of their cards across all digital devices. Consumers can easily control how, when, and where their cards are used when accessing their card issuer’s mobile banking app. They can also remotely deactivate cards or set spending controls at the device level.

Regulatory Concerns

The regulatory concerns on the global digital payments are alarming as a standardized system of rules and regulations to handle, record, and secure global payments is yet to become a reality. Hence, the current practices seem to be moving like an unruly bull with every country having their own way of dealing with the issues.

Regulations for the evolving payment systems originate with a country's financial and government institutions. The banks, credit and debit card issuers also bring in self-regulation by establishing their own stringent rules for transaction security and safety. Many countries including North America and even parts of Europe have made a certificate from an authority mandatory for securing every credit and debit card transactions. However, many other countries such as China, Pakistan, and India are yet to create a regulatory framework to ensure secure online payments. The lack of a sophisticated online shopping or transaction system in these countries can be blamed for the lack of a regulatory framework.

A smart card, also known as an EMV, has been touted to be a solution to bring a higher standard to all global payments. These EMV cards use electronic cash instead of currency and contain embedded 8-bit microprocessors. It cannot be denied that these types of cards pave the path for a standardization capability for a globally regulated payments system. As a different approach, some global payment providers are rather comfortable with digital wallets while others have their faith bestowed on cryptocurrency as a solution to create a unified global payments system.

The Tree in My Neighborhood

It's about a tree in my neighborhood in my hometown, Brahmapur. The tree survived several cyclones that destroyed many parts of the city. However, after the last cyclone, it started losing its life gradually. Something was eating it up from within. It lost all its green and started turning black, lifeless.

There was a hollow at the bottom of the tree, which became shelter for some frogs. A few years back, a plant started growing in that hollow that was narrow enough to protect it from the animals. However, as the tree was dying, the hope for survival of the plant also wouldn't live for long.

Recently, when I visited the place, I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. The tree was still there as lively as it was, maybe, some 20 years back. But at my first look, I neither found the plant nor the hollow at the bottom of the tree.

On further investigation, I realized that the plant grew up into a huge tree. It filled the hollow and grew up around the mother tree, holding it tight like a snake on a stick. Both the trees together seemed to be strong enough to survive many more cyclones in the future.

This wonderful anecdote has given an interesting perspective on life.

'Never hesitate to help those who are in real need. Try to provide them with whatever you can afford to offer. On the other hand, never hesitate to take shelter somewhere when you truly need it for survival. However, when you are on your own, do not forget to return the favor with your full capacity.'

Call for “Monsoon-Ready” India

Every year, in the first week of June, we the people in India wait eagerly for the Monsoon rains. Tormented by the hot sun for more than four months, we feel exhausted and look at the sky every now and then wishing the rains to fall, which would be followed by a fall in the temperature. With the approach of the rains, our dry dams, reservoirs, and lakes would be filled with water and through the pipe lines, the water will head towards the tanks in our houses. The farmers would get their crop fields irrigated. People would throng sea beaches and other spots to enjoy the rains at its first arrival. 

Presume monsoon hits India in the first week of June. So what  would our lives be in the second week of June? Some city is flooded due to excessive rains. Some farmer commits suicide because it doesn’t rain on his land on time and his crops get damaged. Some big city is struggling with the traffic issues. Some train gets delayed or derailed. Some people die due to land slide. Some child falls into a manhole. People struggle to live in their roofless houses, some walls fall down on people when they are asleep, some trees fall down on people, etc. 

India has been blessed with this geographical boon called “Monsoon”, where every year it rains for three to four months at a particular period. Still we don’t have a single year in which we don’t experience all the above mentioned debacles. Nature gives us eight months to prepare for the monsoons; however, as soon as it arrives, our lives become worse in many ways. Monsoon has become such an element in our lives that neither we can live without it nor can we deal with it effectively.

The question is if nature has planned Monsoon for us, why haven’t we managed to deal with it? Why do we still have women in many villages walk miles to get a pot of drinking water? India has always been a country of farmers, where a majority of people survive on farming or related occupations. However, still we haven’t done enough to secure the future of so many citizens. We have seen numerous deaths due to cloud bursts. Have we learnt any lessons from them? For example, are Mumbai and Uttarakhand ready to channelize the water in case of another cloud burst?

Precisely, what we need at this point of time after 68 years of independence is a “monsoon-ready” India. We must have better and more number of water reservoirs spreading across the country evenly. We must have rivers interconnected to avoid any situation of flood or drought. We must preserve the rain water, allowing it to go underneath the ground rather than into the sea. It’s not a work of a few days. It might take decades to achieve this goal. However, we can achieve this goal only when we plan and work towards it. Otherwise, even in next million years, we will continue to lose our resources to monsoon rather than gaining from it.

PK: Questions of a Neutral Mind

• If Gandhiji is still relevant in India, it is only as a photograph that too only when appeared on a currency note. For most people, his principles hold no value.
• Nobody is born with any religion. There is no sign of any religion in our body, which will approve our religion. If God had wanted us to follow any religion, He would have given that sign. 
• At times, our brain is so occupied by superstition that we don’t realize the truth. Even if we set out to fight the evil and prove it wrong, we lose our faith when the first notion of victory of the opponent strikes our mind.
• Some people believe they have been chosen to protect their Gods without realizing that they are a very minuscule element of the entire creation and the creator is not so weak to need anyone to protect Him.
• God doesn’t want us to go to faraway places to pray when we are in pain. It’s always the call of the “wrong number”.

Series of Events: Here is How History was Created...

Indian Bureaucracy to Get a Shield

Indian Bureaucracy is about to get a shield against the malicious political class it seems. On October 31, the Supreme course discouraged bureaucrats from taking oral orders from their political bosses. The apex course sought an end to frequent transfers and also suggested a fixed tenure to protect the officers from political interference.

Certainly, when implemented, the action is going to make the political class more accountable. The action would also bell the unruly cats in bureaucracy as well. After getting all the decisions and actions in black and white, they will hardly get any excuse for delaying or accelerating any process. Hence, the lightning of the verdict is going to fall on both the political class and the bureaucracy. Passing the buck is not going to work anymore.  

However, there is certainly a concern in this context. Though the court has said that the parliament must enact a law to regulate postings, transfers and disciplinary action against bureaucrats, how much exhilaration the political class will show to take action on the enactment. How reasonable will it be to expect any speedy action in this context from the same political class which wants to get out of the purview of the Right to Information to prevent itself from the noose of accountability?

The verdict came as a result of a PIL filed by 83 retired bureaucrats, including former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian.

Why Do We Elect Them?

From cricket commentary to being a participant of the reality show Big Boss 6, to being a judge of a comedy show, it seems the former cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu has done everything else other than performing his duties as a member of parliament from Amritsar.

Mr Siddhu preferred to lock himself in the Big Boss house for more than a month as if for those many days his constituency won't need him at all.

Hence, the question that remains with us is, "What's the use of having such star members of parliament who publicly ignore their constituencies, having no sense of responsibility?"

Movie Review: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

It’s a story of a sportsman who fights against all odds and comes out as a winner. It’s a story of a coal thief who joins army to win his love. It’s a story of a child who loses all his kith and kin except a sister during partition and comes to India from Pakistan. It’s a story of an individual who travels from being a no-one to someone on whose name a national holiday is declared. It’s a story about the Flying Singh (Milkha Singh).

“Hard Work, Will Power, and Dedication! Jisme yeh teen cheez ho woh zameen se aashman chhu sakta hai.” This quote by Milkha Singh is displayed after the film ends. The same is true with the film as well. It has become a master piece thanks to the hard work, will power, and dedication of the people involved with this project.

I won’t give you the story here but the feel. While watching Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, you will get the feel of India’s partition, the thrill of an Olympic game, the pain of a lover, the helplessness of a child, the love of a sister, the cruelty of jealous competitors, the forgiveness of a dedicated, goal-oriented hero, the high aspirations of an individual and the hard work he puts in, the pain of failure, the impact of distraction, the will power, the fear of revisiting the same place where one had lost all his near and dear ones, and the happiness of making one’s country proud.

Performance from all the actors is fantastic. Starting from the child who plays young Milkha to the director who does a cameo as a pilot, no one lets down. The movie is about the journey of Milkha Singh and hence the onus was mostly on Farhaan Akhtar who played the pivotal character. From body language to running posture, he played the character with perfection. However, in a couple of scenes, he couldn’t go far away from being Farhan Akhtar particularly where he delivers some witty lines. Divya Dutta is brilliant as Milkha’s sister. She delivers both love and agony through her eyes and voice. I don’t know whom to miss and whom to mention from the supporting star cast. Each of them has done justice to their parts though I liked Prakash Raj, Pavan Malhotra, and the boy who played young Milkha the most.

What makes the film so great apart from the performances are the following aspects: flawless editing, brilliant story-telling, high-class cinematography, perfect locations, and the climax. You come out of the theatre with a smile on your face along with the wet eyes.

How Long will It Take Us to Abolish the Dowry System?

When I was in fourth standard, once a teacher asked all the students to write an essay on the dowry system. I didn’t know how to write. Hence, I just documented all the criminal incidents related to the dowry system, which I had come across in my locality. To my surprise, the teacher was very impressed with my essay. That was perhaps the first appreciation I received for my writing. But that was also the first time when I expressed my anger on the criminality of this so-called social norm. I was assured by the teacher that this norm wouldn't be existing in the society ten years down the line. That year was 1989. Twenty-four years have passed since then. And recently, when I browsed through the Internet, the news items that caught my eyes were as follows:

• Female magistrate files dowry case against her husband
• Hours after going to cops, dowry victim ends life
• Woman burnt to death over dowry
• Former Orissa minister arrested in dowry torture

Today is the time when our fight against female feticide has gone stronger. We take pride in taking action against people who get involved in gender identification in the womb. However, the root cause of female feticide doesn't solely lie in gender identification in the womb. It is in the brain. It is also formed in the brain when one comes across facts about atrocities against women like sexual exploitation, torture for dowry, so on and so forth, which showcase how difficult it is to become a woman in our society. Therefore, while we are fighting to make every girl child in the womb see the world, we will need to make the world secure for them at every stage of their lives. Demand of dowry in marriage is one such insecurity.

We have ambassadors for polio eradication, breast cancer care, going green, etc. We need ambassadors for abolishment of the dowry system as well. We need long-term campaigns till this social injustice (norm) is uprooted and erased from our brains forever and for never to come back.

People who accepted or planning to accept dowry in marriage tend to give one or other excuse for accepting dowry. All that is crap. The way you cannot justify any injustice, you cannot justify accepting dowry as well.

From my experience, I can give you some popular excuses. Feel free to add to the list below:

• I didn’t want dowry. My parents wanted it. (Answer: You are getting married, not your parents. You can definitely stop them from having such illegal demand.)
• We never demanded. But they just forced us to accept. (Answer: You are not a child. Nobody wants to give you anything free of cost. You must have showed the greed in your eyes. There are many shameless people who don't demand dowry these days, but expects it to be given as a right.)
• I had given dowry to my sister. Hence, I demanded too. (Answer: Then, you take back from your sister. Why do you take it from someone else's sister.)
• I spent so much money in my marriage for my in-laws’ pride. Hence, I had to accept dowry. (Answer: Who asked you to spend it. Don't give such crap. You spent it for showing off. And you want your parents-in-law to pay for it.)
• That’s why I preferred an arrange marriage. Otherwise, I would have gone for a love marriage. (Answer: Greed is not restricted to arrange marriage or love marriage. No girl would have loved you when you had so much greed.)
• My wife will not demand her share from her parents' property. Dowry is a form of that share. (Answer: Rather you don't take it as dowry and ask your wife to legally demand for her share of property.)
• I wanted to start a business. This was like the capital amount. It is for their daughter only. (Answer: Wait. Your son-in-law will ask you for the same. Save for the capital amount of your future son-in-law's business.)
• This is a tradition. We need to follow it. (I am sure you wouldn't have followed the tradition if it was inconvenient to you. You need not follow the age-old traditions that has no relevence in today's time.)
  

Confused State

As usual the morning and the evening are

As usual the day and the night are

Something is missing today, but

Something is perplexing today, but

I am searching for something..

Or, I am searching for someone.

I must find something today..

Or someone must find me today!

I am there where I should be..

Or, I was there where I should be.

I am forgetting myself today!

I am discovering myself today!

I am feeling restless..

Or, I am just motionless.

The emptiness is biting me today.

My patience is giving in today.

As usual the morning and the evening are

As usual the day and the night are

Something is missing today, but

Something is perplexing today, but

10 Reasons Why Arvind Kejriwal Should Be Successful in Politics

Arvind Kejriwal, National Convenor of AAP

It's been more than four months since Arvind Kejriwal launched the Aam Admi Party (AAP) and more than six months since he announced of it. Lot of speculations have been published and telecast in the media about his political future. While we cannot just ignore the comments from the experts and the current situation in politics where a lot of money is required to contest elections, we cannot even deny the call of our hearts. Here is why my heart says why this anti-corruption crusader should be successful as a political leader:

1. Arvind Kejriwal has been fighting against corruption and trying to introduce a system that will be able abolish corruption. He is advocating of creation of a system that will cleanse the political environment once and forever.
2. Arvind Kejriwal advocates of making our leaders more accountable. He has also inspired people to ask questions to their leaders. Accountability will definitely keep the leaders from wrong-doings.
3. Arvind Kejriwal has brought back the sense of patriotism in Indians. He wants Indians to demonstrate a fighting spirit and not to surrender to the wrong-doings or evil-intentions of the political leaders.
4. Arvind Kejriwal thinks that Indians are first class people with third class governance. He blames the governance of the country for its pitiable condition and not the people.
5. Arvind Kejriwal demands decentralization of the decision making process. He wants people to decide what they want and the government to deliver accordingly rather than the latter assuming of what people want.
6. In his search of freedom from corruption, Arvind Kejriwal never gave in to the odds he faced. He continued his fight even when his ideal Anna Hazare and his other comrades including Kiran Bedi parted ways with him. This shows his strength and his strong-belief and determination about what he is doing. He has practiced what Ravindranath Tagore said: Jodi Tor Dak Shune Keu Na Ase Tobe Ekla Cholo Re (If no one responds to your call, then go your own way alone).
7. Arvind Kejriwal believes in the principle “Be the change you want to see in the world”. He is honest himself, he has chosen honest people in his party, and he is challenging the other political parties to dare follow the same ideology.
8. Arvind Kejriwal is against people who come to politics for the facilities such as car, bungalow, and other privileges that the politicians get. He urges the aspirants to come to politics for serving the society and to sacrifice these privileges.
9. Arvind Kejriwal is an ordinary man. He doesn’t have any political background. If he becomes successful, he can inspire many ordinary but honest people to come and join politics, who otherwise thought it’s a dirty field. Therefore, politics is not going to be a playground of the goons, corrupt, rich, or the descendants of other politicians only.
10. Above all, Arvind Kejriwal is fearless and has penetrated fearlessness in millions of people. His success will be a celebration of being fearless and standing against all odds in life.

Who is Guilty? The Woman, the Driver, or the Boy?

A beautiful woman – in her 20s, adorned with adequate jewelry perfectly matching her gracious sari – was talking to her friends in a local train. She seemed to be highly educated. While picking the last piece of the potato chips from the packet she was holding in her left hand, she mentioned that her house was getting renovated for Diwali (the festival of lights) celebrations. At the last word of her statement, she threw the wrapper out of the train through the window.

An auto-rickshaw driver asked my co-passenger to not to leave the biscuit wrappers inside the rickshaw. The passenger put the wrapper in his bag with an intention to throw it into a dustbin when he gets down. The driver then asked me whether I wanted to get down at the next stop and then he spit the betel nut, which he was chewing for a long time, to his right on the road.

On the bus stop, an educated boy asked me when the bus was supposed to arrive. He had his face neatly shaved and had also applied some perfume. I told him that even I was waiting for the bus for last half an hour. In disappointment, he casually kicked one empty soft drink can that had fallen out of the nearby dustbin. The can ended up finding itself on the middle of the otherwise spotless road.

Many-a-times, it seems we live in a time of selfishness when we care very much about our own impression but not that of the society, when anything told to us about the world outside that of ourselves merely seems cacophony to us. That might be the reason why the woman didn’t want the entire city but only her house to be clean for the festival, the auto-rickshaw driver didn’t want the roads to be as clean as his own vehicle, and the handsome, presentable boy didn’t want the road to look as good and presentable as he looked.

Cursing these three people while walking home, I started to search for a chocolate in my pocket. Luckily, I found one, which I unwrapped and put in my mouth. My eyes were wandering to find a dustbin where I can put the wrapper. I didn’t find any in the vicinity. Hence, I started walking while holding the wrapper in my hand with an intention to throw it wherever I find a dustbin. I had already walked for 200 meters and hadn’t found a single dustbin on the road though the road was full of garbage lying here and there. Suddenly, my hand hit my body and the wrapper I was holding fell down on the road. Did I consider picking it up again? No. How does it matter? One more wrapper on the ugly road wouldn’t make a difference to its appearance, I thought. And then, I moved on.

As I reached home, I realized that those three individuals were not at fault completely. They were merely reacting naturally to the conditions they were put into. The woman didn’t find a single dustbin in the train, the auto-rickshaw driver found the road worth spitting, and the boy thought the road would be a better place for the can than where he was standing. Everything in its present shape or condition is prepared to face its own destiny. Even a street dog looks for a pole to address the nature’s call. People who spit on the dirty roads don’t behave in the same way with the posh malls they visit. Therefore, it is time to desperately demand for infrastructure that deserve better behavior from the society; at the same time let’s encourage the society to respect whatever the little we have and not to make it uglier. And as they say, we need to be the change we want to see in the world. 

Anna / Arvind: A Split That Hardly Bothers

They have worked together for years and have been a great force behind the introduction of the Right to Information act. They have fought together for months lobbying for a strong bill against corruption. Yet there are many aspects which indicate that the split between Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal was for the good. They have been quite effective individually as they decided to take different paths for achieving their common goal – abolishing corruption.

Both Kejriwal and Hazare are go-getters and have shown a never-die attitude in their field of work so far. However, they exhibit a difference in approach. Anna seems to target the hearts of people and Arvind goes with the brain. While the former comes with inspirational speeches, talks about ideology and tries to touch the emotional chords of people, the latter moves every step forward with strategy, adequate data, defending logic and high-level research.

The positive gesture that Anna and Arvind have given for each other even after splitting shows that both believe in each others’ potential. Where Anna says that he will go and campaign for Arvind if the latter contests an election because the latter’s wrong-doings are not evident, Arvind says that he is missing Anna as a moral support. Joining hands with former Army Chief B K Singh, Anna is on his way to form a new Team Anna. With many members from India against Corruption, Arvind is almost ready to register and announce the name of his political party in November 2012.

The development after the split between Anna and Arvind has answered the question what the need of the split was when both have a common goal. The exposés demonstrated against Robert Vadra, Salman Khurshid and Nitin Gadkari were call of the time and the way the movement against the Delhi power tariff was conducted was phenomenon. When was the last time we had seen a social activist on TV throughout the day? Arvind Kejriwal could make the issue of corruption a conversation toping in the drawing rooms.

Therefore, the split was for choosing the best path suitable for an individual. The split was for standing by what one believes. The split, the biggest question raised against the intention of the fighters against corruption, itself proved how much integrity both of these personalities have. They are not only concerned about achieving their goal but also being particular about the way through which it should be achieved.