The right to be soft spoken and heard, the right to be honest, correct and productive in one’s relationships, the right to choose one’s field of endeavour , however outlandish and even extravagant it might seem, the right to be supported by “the village” in one’s quest for excellence and joy, the right not to be cynical or slovenly, the right to earn the right to pass on one’s knowledge to whosoever shows an interest, and the right to the good life that ensues; these Tendulkaristics are the rights of every human being.

It says something about humanity in the 21st century that these are rights are so rarely respected, leave alone supported, that Sachin Tendulkar stands almost alone in embodying them.

The Dalai Lama and Aung San Su Kyi are in their own way exemplars of integrity and excellence, but why have we not been able to receive their benedictions to the the fullest ?

Even in sports India, citizens were recently witness to the Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra and earlier the entire hockey become “activists” and get involved in a”panga” (tussle) with the authorities to receive proper playing conditions.

I place my own “no excuses”, ultra peaceful, non partisan, individual sathyagraha against corruption and for the idea of the rule of law in India,now in its 18th year, in a similar category of my quest for my right to love, to play and to excel.

Since the media and civil society in India prefer to ride bandwagons and idolize, rather than apply their imaginations and responsibility, I appeal to your esteemed publication and your readers to get my message across to the powers that be in the Rashtrapathi Bhavan and the Prime Minister’s Office in India.

It is in this larger context that I make the following observations:

In India today any “aspiration” nursed by the “common man” for integrity, innovation or excellence, can quickly get “him” ostracised if not brutally killed.

And in the stilted political discourse manufactured by India’s ruling class the “common woman” does not even exist !

A culture of profiting from deceit and dysfunctionality appears to have enveloped India.

And even while the Indian political leadership spins technicolour dreams of 21st century superpowerdom, its “politics” are mired in the medieval anachronisms of what I have called the “patronage paradigm – the paradigm of shoddiness, irresponsibility, cronyism and corruption that has cretinised us all”

Since the past two decades, the Government of India, the Government of my own state, Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh High Court , the Chief Information Commissioner and State Information Commissioner have combined to impress on me that what works in India is what I have called the “patronage paradigm” and that ideas of the rule of law and democratic processes are merely spectacles to lull the gullible.