We Indians are like this only!

Many years ago my mother, one of the most popular people in the city and often invited to all sorts of events as chief guest, told me, "Being on time at these events is a lonely life." What she meant was that whenever she went to these events at the designated time, the event was not be ready! The organisers wouldn't even be around.

The chowkidaar and stagehands would get surprised by her arrival and said, "Kalak pachhi avjo (come after an hour's time)!"

She would wait a while, and then leave a note thanking organisers to have invited her, saying that she had come and was now leaving. Many times during my childhood and youth, I remember red-faced and breathless organisers arrive at our home, apologising profusely to her, imploring her to return to the event. I can't remember her doing so.

I have followed this rule. And we stick to it at all events we are in-charge of. At our theatre Natarani, gates shut at 8.35, whether or not the house is full, whether or not the chief guest (if any) is in or not. I tell the performing artist that the few people in the audience value the artist enough to arrange their evenings to be there on time. And if I am performing, I appreciate other organisers doing the same.

What most people however tend to do is punish those on time and encourage laggards; for that is what you do when you do not start on time. You tell the good ones, the punctual ones that you think they are foolish and that you will not honour them. By doing this, one encourages more and more people to do wrong.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) seems to be doing exactly this by letting off illegal builders with a fine and not punishing them. The illegal buildings constructed by them in the past are not broken down. They aren't even sent to jail or made to the community service.

For most builders, money is an easy commodity and paying fines for deals that have illegally earned crores is no big deal. But what about the estimated 20% who played with the rules the right way, who struggled with permissions, who didn't bribe officials to bend rules or turn a blind eye to them?

Is it fair to those people who have not built second or third floors and have exactly built what they had passed as designs? What about those builders who have not encroached, have not turned parking spaces into additional apartments or shops? Did they follow the law in vain? Only to be told that whatever your crime, in a few years some rapacious law or the other will be manipulated to make things 'normal' and legal?

So much in our system functions just this. It encourages illegal, nefarious or criminal activities and punishes the good. Another example is our justice system which lets out criminals on bail so that they can continue to terrorise people or continue committing crimes.

There is this famous dowry case from New Delhi where a woman was killed by her husband and his family for not bringing in more from her family. The bride's family filed a case. It took four years for the first hearing.

By then, the husband had married again and soon after the first adjournment, remarried! Twelve years later, he was finally sent to jail for many years for he had married and killed four women.

Or take the case of our juvenile homes where youngsters are sent to correct their behaviour. These grossly overcrowded and miserable institutions more or less guarantee that a youngster will take to a life of crime and antisocial behaviour. It is time to relook at many of these systems. Who has the will?

The writer is a noted danseuse and social  activist