Democracy and India

I am disturbed by the thought of this topic for some time now; especially after Anna Hazaare's movement against corruption. Is our nation mature enough to absorb democracy in the real sense? And if not, what is the future for democracy in India? And if yes, what type of governance we may have in the coming days?

I have my own doubts about the brighter prospects for democratic values in India. Day after day, we see the erosion of democratic values in all walks of life - be it politics, administration, judiciary, defense services, business or education - all have become the victims of persistent apathy and rather, we are witness to a mockery of democracy.

And this erosion did not happen overnight.  It is a gradual process and this has reached a point of no return today.  How many scams have we seen since the Bofors? One bigger than the previous one.  Strangely not even one of them has reached the logical conclusion.  It is just miserable for the ordinary public, disappointing to the reformers and frustrating to the young hopeful people.  We have arrived at a point that nothing can change here.  What shall happen in due course?  People will lose their faith in democracy sooner or later.  We are already witnessing a sense of intolerance towards the democratic institution.  Clear signs of autocratic regime are emerging in the distance.  Intellectuals have unfortunately withdrawn from the active arena thinking that nobody can save this slide.  Administrators have either fallen in line with the power mongers or have become silent spectators.  Then who should save the country from falling into chaotic precipice? It is like the saying: "If everybody is somebody, nobody is anybody".  My vision is that either India will slip back to the pre-colonial era where it was split into hundreds of provinces and ruled by the regional satraps or some autocratic power will clamp its hand in the near future.  We have seen too much of democracy and finding it indigestible.