PERFECTING THE ‘ALMOSTNESS’

Journey of a Comeback Man

 In the years to come, cricket lovers of the world will remember there was a man who achieved greatness. Well, almost. Away from the muck that IPL is generating off the field, the final touches are being given to the story of an extraordinary life, that of an artist whose canvas has one recurring stroke – ‘almostness’. Every time he’s been dumped in the bin he has hit back, in style, and with vengeance; but has never quite been the champion that he has always aspired to be.

At the onset of his career, he, like the epic poet Milton, was crystal clear on intention: ‘No middle path, I intend to soar’. But his epic has been left bereft of the final heroic triumph. The man, Saurav Ganguly, first appeared on the cricket scene in the ’92 Australia World Cup. Buoyed by a great domestic season, he was the one big hope of a team of ageing wonders. He ‘almost’ lived up to the expectation with fine performances in the practice games. But contrary to everyone’s belief, he failed miserably on the field, earning himself a bad score and a worse reputation. The prince, they said, found it beneath his dignity to serve water.

And yet when the spotlight shifted elsewhere, Dada struck back. No one thought he would get a game in the English summer of ’96, but chance got him in for that second test and he did not need another chance. ( though the jury is still out on why he got the chance; whether Sidhu revolted against Azhar or that he had a bad fight in the London tube)  Scoring two centuries and lifting the Man of the Series trophy was not enough for Ganguly. The fire in him wanted to smash his captain’s record, or as some would say, also his bete noire, Md Azharuddin. Again, he ‘almost’ scored a third century to equal as some would say, his bete noire Azhar, but the chance that got him in the squad took away the debut, which would have been just perfect. Batting at 64 in that Delhi test, he was given out, even as the ball hit his arm and not the gloves.

Fast forward to 2003 -- disaster strikes Team India. The team, by now, has completely evolved from the shadows of match fixing. The team under Ganguly’s leadership has turned into quite a force; then comes the New Zealand tour. No team, especially from the subcontinent, was able to tame the Kiwis in their home ground in those early summer matches. The team was frozen not only by the chill in the air, but also the swing and pace of the Kiwi bowlers. In spite of Sehwag’s bravado, Team India had little to cheer about in that long dreary tour before the South African World Cup. The team failed badly; so did the captain. And after a loss in the early part of the World Cup campaign, the knives were out. The venerable current chairman of the selection committee, Krish Srikanth, wasn’t quite at his selecting best then. He said given a choice he would not send Ganguly to bat even 14th down. Thankfully, he wasn’t given the option to decide the batting order, and Dada created history again…well ‘almost’. He brought in that famous team huddle and went on to take the team to the final. The stage was set for the showdown, to avenge the round robin loss to the Aussies.

But then it was time again for the ‘almostness’ to strike. He chose to field against the mighty Aussie batting line-up and they  monstrously batted India out of the game. Ganguly remained the second most successful captain at the World Cup; he could not match Kapil’s greatness.

Fast forward again, this time to 2007.  After the Greg Chappell saga when Ganguly was unceremoniously dumped from the team both as a captain and as a player, he rose again. This time, backed by sheer performance at the domestic level, he played and the world watched. He finished the calendar year as one of the most successful batsmen in both forms of the game. And then came the grand finale of Nagpur. He’d already declared before the series that he would retire from International cricket. A century would have been a perfect finish to the fairy tale. As he was batting at 83, anticipation rose to pinnacle, but greatness was never his. Someone with over 17,000 international runs, fell just 17 short.

If it was Chappell in 2006, it was Buchanan in IPL 2009, being played out of home in South Africa; KKR has the audacity to sack Saurav as the captain of the team. The coach, with a ‘Kipplingesque’ notion of the white man’s burden makes the Kiwi vice-captain, Brendon McCullum, the captain. The team finishes at the bottom of the pool and creates more news off the field than on it. All that mysteriously chronicled by one ‘fakeiplplayer’, whose blogs got more eyeballs than probably the matches themselves.

So, now all Ganguly fans looked at IPL 2010 as his final chance to attain that perfect symmetry that has always eluded him. Back at the helm again and with a coach of his choice, the King, many said, was back. He kicked it off in style too, winning three Man of the Matches. He was instrumental in most of the KKR wins. He was among the top five run getters of the tournament. But poor performance by the Indian players and absence of consistent match-winning knocks did the team in. He came back and showed the world that the fire in him is far from extinguished, but could not take his team to the semis and lost out in the game of net run rates. He made an ‘almost’ successful comeback once again.

Thus is the story of the man who aspired to be the best but fell just short of it.

Probably, his story was never supposed to have a heroic end. He is a phoenix who rose from the ashes again, and again… But the phoenix is no eagle and Maharaj could not, and will not, be the king of kings. His end, like always, will have tragic dignity and not heroic fortitude.

Or will he prove us all wrong, once again. Hoping, but not really against hope!

 

FIGHTING THE WAR WITHIN

BJP is finally getting more footage across all networks, than the ruling Indian National Congress. But it would be safe to assume that the party would have preferred a complete media blackout instead of the kind of headlines they are making now. The party with a difference has now become the party of differences as no one knows from where the next revolt will come from. But why is it in such a state?

The reason can be best found in cricket. After AB Vajpayee & LK Advani’s golden generation, there came a series of players who would play well but could not captain the side. Sehwag, Zahir or Yuvaraj where all there but none were able to take over the reigns. And till one Dhoni came from nowhere to rescue the team, there was serious doubt over what would happen once the fab 5 left. But unlike our cricket team, BJP have not been as lucky in finding the skipper.

The leaders after the two patriarchs have only grown in their shadow. Yashwant Singha, Jaswant Singh & Murli Manohar Joshi belong to that lost generation who were important enough to get the prime portfolios but just did not have the mass base or the organizational capability to control the party. In fact all of them failed in the litmus taste of politics- winning election. Both Singha and Joshi lost their respective seats even while fighting as ministers while Jaswant Singh for most part of his life remained in Rajya Sabha. And by the time the two patriarchs are on their way out… these leaders are too old to get the mantle. But these leaders are not ready to accept that this truth and there in lies the first problem.

Thus to succeed the two tall men, the young nation would seek young leaders and hence is the glee of those who are called the second generation within the party. This space includes Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Narendra Modi & to some extent Venkaih Naidu and Ananth Kumar. In the late nineties the party did not nurture anyone as the first among the equals amidst them and hence the second big problem for the party is that all of them want to be the next face of the party.

Rajnath Singh, the current party president has odds stacked against him. Apart from the defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, his inability to revive the party in Uttar Pradesh is seen as a major failure. After all if a leader cannot revive the party in his home state, can he be entrusted with the job of reviving it nationally? But Rajnath too isn’t giving up. His counter strategy is to use RSS as the shield. Today he can be seen marking his attendance in the Sangh office almost everyday.

Sushma Swaraj some say had it all in her to get the top job. But first her histrionics against Sonia Gandhi in 2004 (she said she will tonsure her head, sleep on the floor and live a life on a hermit if Sonia became the PM) and then her illness which kept her out of the public space for much of the last term, can act as deterrents. Even then the deputy leader of Lok Sabha is one of the strongest contenders. LK Advani’s blessings for her would only add to her resume.

Now comes the dynamic duo of Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley. Both blamed for the defeat in the 2009 general elections. Jaitley was the campaign manager and though CSDS survey did find out that the campaign managed by Jaitley was a shade better than congress, he too has to share his share of the blame. And Modi as the incharge of Western India could not really galvanize voters to turn the election in BJP’s favour. More over even RSS isn’t too keen on him. Both of them are lying low at this moment and waiting for the right moment to strike. Both the leaders are perceived to be close to each other. Their styles are complementary as well. While Jaitley would manage the back room and be the face of the party in Tele Studios, Modi would work on the masses.

Adding to this long list of successor is the Patriarch himself. Unlike AB Vajpayee, Advani is just refusing to vacate the space. The permanent yatri of Indian politics is a pale shadow of his past and with his grip slipping, the party needs him to make the final yatra sooner than later.

But claimant for the top spot is not the only problem. The strong right to the centre approach which propelled the party to the national reckoning in the early 90s too can do with some up gradation. The victim mentality of the majority which the saffron party capitalized to the hilt in the late 80s and the early 90s cannot be minted anymore. Mandir has been made. And this assertion in a way has cured the insecurity (if any) of what the Sangh would like to call the majority of the heartland. Now it is the time to move on. Take up greater - security, immigration, food scarcity and develop a liberal right to centre ideology on these lines. But the party isn’t too sure about this bold move. This constructs the third major problem of BJP, dilemma of what it is and what it should be.

All the problems, revolts and the infightings you will see can be sourced to the reasons mentioned above. Rajnath needed to reassert his position so he fired the softest target Jaswant Singh. A man who neither has the mass following nor had the support of the Sangh. Vasundhara Raje being asked to quit was an attempt at stifling competition. Sudhendra Kulkarni has been in and off through out the last decade and hence much should not be read into that. And the earlier salvos fired by Yashwant Singha and Murli Manohar Joshi too were attempts at tell the world “ I am the best one for the top job”. And the journalist in Arun Shourie couldn’t help but wonder at this ongoing crisis. Amidst all this the former Uttaranchal CM Khanduri too found a chance to challenge his dismissal.

At the moment there is no clear centre of gravity in the party and hence almost every one can get away after challenging the leadership. This however is no rare situation, whenever a party goes through a period of transition; such succession wars are but natural. This might not happen to a Congress because it is controlled by a particular family but a look at the world’s democracies is enough to find similarities. For the records Gordon Brown and Tony Blair didn’t have the most cordial of the relationships when Brown was moving his way up to replace Blair in England.

But this war can turn downright dangerous for the party if it is not resolved well in time for the next general elections. The war now is for the post of party president. This will be filled up by December. But what is highly questionable is whether this election will solve the proxy battles going on right now. It is highly probable that the silence of Modi and Jaitley is because they are not interested in controlling the party right now. They are probably aiming at gaining control somewhere two or three years down the line, when the tenure of the, new party chief ends. The advantage for the next president is that he will be the one to lead the party in the next general election to be held in the year 2014. So will the anarchy within the party continue till then? The game is too complex to hazard a guess

But there are a few pertinent questions which the squabbling leaders need to keep in mind. Is the party strong enough to sustain such a long internal battle? Will they be able to play a responsible opposition when their own house is on fire? How will it affect the party cadres? Do the cadres know who to follow? And above all what will be the new face of the only credible opposition force of the Indian democracy?

As of now, we all stare at the future as only time can answer these questions. Any further decline of BJP is a serious threat to the Indian democracy’s loosely bipolar structure. Let us hope for the best…succession wars are always bitter but may the best man (/woman) win and propel the party to a higher growth trajectory. Most importantly do it fast enough to be ready for the 2014 general elections. And if he/she can give the party an inclusive outlook, it would be an added bonus. Till such time…adieu!

A FRAGMENTED NATION STATE?

The time has come to choose the ruler of the nation. India will vote again in another two months and choose whom to thrust the responsibility of running the central government. But unlike the other years, this time the verdict of a billion voters has been relegated to the battle of states. The party or the coalition which picks up stakes in most number of states (with due importance given to their sizes) stands the brightest chance to rule over the Delhi Sultanate. This election has no wave, no major national issue and no starkly opposite stance taken by the two camps, namely the UPA and the NDA. It looks like the modern day nation state has begun to resemble Eliot’s modern man… fragmented.
The unitary nature of our federal structure is losing out to its constituents

Almost every election till date in the history of Indian democracy have had a major plank, person, an issue or a cluster of issues which made or broke the fortunes of the parties… 1951 was the first vote, a newly independent nation woke up to choose their destiny. 1956 was a referendum on Nehru himself. The Sino-Indo war was the theme of 1962 ( the defense minister actually ended up winning !). 1967 was an election in mourning, with both Nehru and Lal bahadur Shastri dead. For 1971 ‘India is Indira & Indira is India’ says it all. 1977, the nation voted against emergency. But Indira, the Iron Maiden made a comeback in1980. In 1984-85 (first election split in 2 years due to the violence in Assam and Punjab) huge sympathy wave for Rajiv ensured congress more than 400 seats. After Mother’s death, it was for the son stir the nation out of crisis. 1989 was powered by bofors and ‘Gali gali main shoor hai…Rajiv Gandhi Chor hai’ became the slogan of the day. In 1991, Congress won again on a sympathy vote, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated just before the election. 1996 will remain in public memory for Hawala, Telecom and a basket full of other scams. In 1998, the theme was stability‘Party With a Difference-BJP’ became the favourite flavour. 1999 elections had a jingoistic tone, as India won the Kargil battle and of course was the charisma of Atal Vihari Vajpayee. Finally 2004 when a government asked for a receipt of its performance (India Shining), and the nation returned the favour with an eviction notice.

And now 2009- There is no dearth of issues of national significance…especially at the wake of the Global Meltdown and 26/11 attacks. But this Lok Sabha election is yet to assume a national character. Each state has an issue of its own. It is Satyam and Telengana in Andra Pradesh, Tamil sentiments in Tamil Nadu, land acquisition in Bengal, effects of economic meltdown in Gujarat and ethenic divide in Assam…etc.

But why is India’s political map so fragmented? The blame more often than not goes to the regional parties, which cash in on the local sentiments of each segment is this diverse nation called India. This trend started during the 1980s and has almost reached its zenith in these polls. But there is another aspect which is often overlooked, but has contributed heavily in decentralizing the general elections. It is no surprise that after Rajiv Gandhi there has been not a single leader with a pan Indian appeal. Atal Bihari Vajpayee did emerge as one but that was for a brief period, that too towards the fag end of his political career. Apart from that there has been none. The current Prime Ministerial candidates are clearly second or even third choice of their respective parties. Dr Manmohan Singh’s name emerged after a process of rejection, rather than selection. Mother refused the post, son was too inexperienced and Pranab Mukherjee, could have become too powerful. Hence, came the name of a non-political Dr Singh, his qualifications and the clean image was to come only after that. LK Advani too could aspire for the PM’s post only after Vajpayee retired from the game. Even now one Mr Modi is fast emerging as a potential challenger in the long run. It looks as if the two national parties simply do not have a first choice national leader, ready for the top job

Now if we go back in the history again, we will see most of the elections had the shadow of at least one pan Indian mass leader (living or dead). From 1951 to 1962, there was the towering presence of Jawahar Lal Nehru, 1967 had Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri ( both dead) and Indira’s presence., 1971 to 1984, had Indira Gandhi. 1977 saw Jay Prakash Narayan- Indira face off, 1984 to 1991 Rajiv Gandhi and finally AB Vajpayee in 1998, 1999 and 2004 elections.


But this time we only have strong regional figures. They are powerful but only in their own bastions. Mayawati, now that she has Uttar Pradesh in her pocket she is aiming a pan Indian presence. Though her national ambition is yet to take off fully, no one can challenge behenji in her own backyard. Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha, the awesome twosome of Tamil Nadu, they rule the state in alternate terms, dare any national party break into their citadel. Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have Bihar to themselves, with a slice of Paswan thrown in. Bal Thakeray rules over Maharastra and for that matter Abdullahs and Mufti’s hold in Jammu and Kashmir exemplary.

Even the two national parties too have a few strong regional satraps. Narendra Modi, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Yedurappa and Raman Singh leads the charge for BJP while YSR, Ashok Gahlot and Shiela Dishit for Congress. No wonder thus, regional aspirations are better represented than the national condition. A BJP can bank on its star Chief Ministers to get more votes and attention than party’s national President Rajnath Singh can ever get. Hence why will it not play by the local rules, even though at stake is the chair of that of national Prime Minister? Though the Congress President has a charisma of her own, but is in no way as strong as were her illustrious predecessors.

Never before has the national politics been so bereft of mass leaders. Never before has a Prime Minister finished his full tenure as a member of the Rajya Sabha. Arun Jaitley made an interesting comment. He called Manmohan Singh a night watchman, seeing of the difficult overs before the light dawns and a specialist is sent in. This is unfortunately the scene with both the national parties. While Dr Singh is guarding Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi is close to the heels of Advani. In fact had it been a US style election, then Modi might have even defeated his mentor in the ‘primaries’. And perhaps aware of their impending elevation both have started taking potshot at each other.

But India is no US and hence both Rahul and Modi will have to wait for their turns. The wait though is expected to end by the next general elections, (hopefully in 2014). Two fresh faces in the national consciousness will certainly heat up the political battlefield. India might again vote as a unified whole on a subject of national importance and not just be a Union of states. And Eliot’s individual will cease to be symbol of our unified whole. Let us, allow the night watchmen to end their innings… and wait for the time when the leaders are back again! Till such time …adieu!

Are we happy with mediocrity?

Since the time I found the patience to actually think and deliberate on matters whose realms go beyond my own self, I feel I have become more confused about the workings of the world. In fact as I was exposed to modern theories of Lean Management, Just-in- Time inventory and Process and System Re-engineering, I was forming a mind set that someone was trying to put the world together like a scientific law, where nothing was a waste.

But even if the world is governed by laws of physics and the forces of nature decide the fate of any planet, humans still have the undying love of mediocrity. This is even more painful when they dream big, but simply are not willing to put in efforts to achieve.

I have seen people who have big plans, who begin each new task with a boiler full of steam and making noise louder than a factory siren. The enthusiasm is at a peak higher than what a Richard Branson may have before his balloon adventures. But as days progress, the person loses steam and his journey ends in the middle of no where. Most of the time, it is a case where a person is not able to achieve the goals critical to his mission, and the vision goes away in vain. I have nothing against these people. They are mediocre by no means. Frankly because they have the zeal to achieve and lose their confidence when they witness failures far more than success too early in their quest.

I have a problem with those who have big dreams but not the desire to work hard to achieve them. They want money, success, fame and all the best the world can offer. But, they want it served on a platter with minimal effort. Its actually surprising that if there are people with this attitude for themselves, what can be their attitude for a group or a collective goal?

Let me be very open and accept that I have not been able to deliver the desired result many times. When it’s a group activity, I might expect a 100% from every member but end with only a combined 80% at the end of the day. But I have never left any stone unturned when it was for my own development. That’s how I approached an exam, that’s how I lead a team for the college fest. If I excel, the other person possibly out of envy might give more.

Let me discuss an example. I know this junior from my college, who I have still not been able to ascertain as to what might be her true character. She has this slight bit of arrogance for no reason and capability is overridden but snobbish attitude. I am always ready to help anyone who wants a hand with their career. If anyone asks me to help with a career decision, I usually do my bit to the maximum. This girl sure had big dreams, a desire for deep pockets and all earthly wealth. But the casual attitude in the most serious areas for success was shocking.

Where I lost my cool was when one morning I found a questionnaire for a survey from this same girl in my mail. I am not offended by the questionnaire, but the quality of it. This was not the first but the second time I saw bad quality of work in six months from the same girl. To identify the roots, I actually questioned the integrity of my professor and his duty. As I realised that it was nothing but the outcome of the bad attitude and lack of efforts from the students, I asked myself- who was gaining by not putting in the efforts? Why was the final output below the required standard? And why is this girl nagging me for a job which can pay her 4.5 lacs from Day 1, when she might be not even worth half of it?

Mediocrity breeds more of mediocre attitude. Are we here to just earn money or work in a manner and deliver quality work that stand the test of time? If money is all you need… even a prostitute earns money.

If a boss dreams of money, he will be happy with a subordinate who dreams on the same lines. Their work is always more focussed on how to make that half a percent of more profits today than do a good job that can help me get good work for rest of the year. So finally by the end of the year, he makes the numbers. Sure he did, but how? Wasn’t that important?

As I end this post, all I want to ask everyone out here is how well you sleep the day you have not given your best?

“Are u as a person happy with mediocrity?”

-Tushar

India, Bharat or just a Union of States???

Firstly, Thank to Subhojit, I can now post some issues and hope to make some noise...

India, Bharat or just a Union of States???

This month, Indian celebrated 61 years into being recognised as an Independent country. As per the constitution, we are a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic, Republic of India and a Union of States. Yes that’s the “Officially ” how India is expected to be known to the people around the World.

If we just take a ride back into the past, it was the grit of Sardar Patel to bind land once broken up into countless number of princely states, territorial rulers and European colonies into one single identity. The Government then came in though as many possible channels to encourage the feeling of being one nation that drove away the Colonial powers, the last being the Portuguese in 1961. We have been fine tuned to say that we are diverse in terms of culture, religions, languages and social stratifications; end of the day, its Unity in Diversity that is the essence of India.

But does that mean that regionalism is non existent in India?

For starters, regionalism is a political ideology that focuses on the interests of a particular region or group of regions. In India, we do claim of putting India first, region- may be some other place. But I some how managed to see how this ideology is seen differently under different situations.

Some recent events have made me question if we still believe that it is still sometimes regional pride that overruns National pride. This is with regards to RJ Dheena of the Chennai station of BIG 92.7 FM. More than 135 hours continuously on the radio and a new Guinness Record for India. I regard it as a superhuman feat because 5 days on radio can be chaotic and claustrophobic for any normal person. Plus on a media where the freshness of your voice can hold an audience, its an amazing feat.

But I was surprised when I saw the statement made by the Cluster Director for Tamil Nadu of BIG 92.7 FM, Mr. P B Ramaswamy come out saying, ‘It is certainly a proud moment for all the Tamilians across the globe.’

http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id=1219734955

http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/big-fm-rj-dheena-sets-world-record


I’m sorry, but did I read it right? “…proud moment for Tamilians … “

This is outrageous. I can understand the appreciation from all quarters, the channel using the feat it to boast about its people and culture. But where has the Tamilian angle come in? And since I can see this on two sites, this is more like a Press Release that went to all.

Even if I take no notice of why Hindi is not spoken in Southern India, or past discriminations against linguistic minorities in these states, this is a complete new angle. Does this also imply that you disown Abhinav Bindra, Vijay Kumar or Sushil Kumar as they non Tamilians?

My biggest question- how is this different from encouraging regionalism on the basis of language?

We have the legendary example that anyone from below the Vindhya’s is classified a Madrasi. Similarly UP-Bihar contribute to the Bhaiyya populations in the country. If that’s all about identity crisis, our Seven North Eastern Sisters just go down as Nepali’s or Chinkoo’s. Now isn’t that a great division on simple Geography as the base.

Now not in a mood of rebuttal, I saw another story which does evoke uproar. BMC or the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation gave a month for shop owners to host boards with Devnagri script- the same in which Hindi or Sanskrit or Marathi are written. Boards in Dual languages i.e. English and Devnagri are also welcome. The ruling Congress-NCP coalition has no objections, the Shiv Sena in the BMC imposes the proceedings and the MNS makes it fodder for propaganda. On legal terms, there is nothing wrong, except that the size of the letters is completely at the owner’s discretion. But the end result- people refuse to oblige making it appear more like an extension of MNS Anti-North Indian protest.

I won’t support the MNS in its ways. Its issues are real at times and actually valid in regional terms. After all, isn’t that a Regional Party, with a Region centric agenda? If a farmer in Maharashtra has given his land for economic development and now is rendered jobless after his place was given to an outsider ready to work at half the wages, he has a reason to feel deprived in his own house. Violence as a means of expressions is never justified. But then are strikes, road blocks a fair means?

Frankly, if the current issue with sign boards is a problem indeed, how can it be fair in Kolkata where they can be in Bengali and English, or if Amritsar can have them in Punjabi. This is after all Devnagri, the script for the national language? If all political parties in Mumbai are promoting regionalism, how come their rallies start with “Vande Mataram” and sign off with “Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra”?? (State followed by the Nation)

If regionalism is merely supporting your regional culture, language and its people, no one has taken its advantage more than Television channels. When SMS voting can be a factor to decide if Abhijeet Sawant is better than Amit Sana, one can say that Maharashtra had a deeper penetration of cell phones than Chattisghad. When Ishmit has the whole Punjab to support and Debojit is flying high on votes of Eastern India some how we forgot that we were voting for talents rather than regionalism.

I’m in no mood to draw any conclusions…rather this is not something I intend to do. What I’m out to seek is what exactly Regionalism is?

Is India or Bharat still one country or now just a Union of States?


- Tushar

THEY ARE US !

I offer sincere apologies for the delay in posting the new blog. I would begin this one by answering Aruna’s query. Her question was that- why should an urban, educated person waste a day for voting when he/she doesn’t have any expectation from the government? She also mentioned that the Government elected, would work only for the poor people in the villages, so why should the urban elite be bothered.

This is the kind of question which stems from the educated class’s indifference to the system of governance. We in our comfort zone of home, office, malls and pubs often tend to negate the role that government plays in our lives. But lurking in the backdrop of our existence is the mammoth organization, the administration controlled by the government. Since we are taking about urban India today lets take an example of any city, say Bangalore. Who looks after the roads in the city? Who controls the law and order here? If there is a problem of water, sanitation, traffic jam or security… in each of these cases it is the government we have to depend upon. If metro is being constructed in Bangalore then it is done by the government.

Not only this, if we develop such an indifference towards the political society and the system of adult franchise then we do not have the right to question the administration if they fail to deliver what is expected of them. Tomorrow if there is a bomb blast in MG road we will not have the moral right to question the intelligence failure of governmental machineries like the state police or the Intelligence Bureau. We have already forfeited this right when we refused to come out and vote, thinking it doesn’t affect our lives.

The city of hydrabad was gifted with 19 flyovers by Chandrababu Naidu when he was the Chief Minister of the state. But when the election came, his core constituency, the urban voters conveniently forgot to reach the polling booth on the day of the election. The post script of that election is that the new Chief Minister does not care what happens to the IT parks in Hydrabad, as long as his rural voters are happy with him. It would be worthy to mention that, I am not justifying Naidu’s neglect of the rural Andhra Pradesh, I am just citing the example of how the indifference of the voters can affect a city.

There is another attitude that we have to face. It is the individual mentality of – it is just a case of one vote, if I don’t vote…how does it matter? But think of what happens when a million people have a similar thought… a million vote lost.

There is yet another argument- the Government doesn’t work at all and why do we vote if we have to choose between the devil and the deep sea? Well, the government in any nation is only as good or bad as the people of that place. During the recent trust votes everybody was saying the MPs are on sale, what a sad state of the society! I agree the MPs are on sale, the police is available on rent and justice can be purchased…but tell me honestly how many of us don’t have a price tag on our head? Is there anybody amongst us who refused to bribe someone and take the harder way out? We may have haggled over the amount we pay but never on why we pay the bribe. When asked we just blame it on the system. But who are the constituents of the system? Aren’t you and I are the ones who make the system. Then why is this escapist attitude of blaming others for our miseries.

When we are left with only criminals to choose from, I guess that’s not the time to retire from voting. As a matter of fact that is the time to go to the root of things and establish a cleaner choice, the choice which I wrote about in the last entry.

And this brings me to the next query. Tushar had asked how a middle class person can take time out for politics and go about the process of cadre building. How can he manage home, office and build up a party as well. It is an interesting question and I don’t know if my take is the right take, if there is anything called the right take.

I feel we need to start getting a little more institutionalized in our approach towards forming a party. We all agree that without huge amount of money we cannot run a party. We can start taking a transparent way in doing that. Emulating the US way of fund raising dinner can be a good means to get the mullah. However this process would require deeper thought and a lot streamlining.

Once the cash issue is handled, then we can have a few party full timers. They will be paid salary by the party. This is the process used in the cadre based parties like the CPI(M). They have over 7000 cadres on their payroll. I guess that is how we can get manpower. But at the helm of it we would need someone who is wholly engrossed into the process of building up the party. A face which would appeal to a lot of people say a Shiv Khera or a Rajinder Singh can help. These are the people with proven credentials of public service.
Once this structure is ready, then the normal middle class comes into play. These are the people who would form the base of the party. They will not have much of the party work to handle but they will act as publicity agents. They would influence people around them about the new party in the block and do some positive word of mouth. This can be done in the offices, homes, clubs and in parties.

If this process happens successfully then we may have a new political party of reckoning in the near future. But again we would need a few politically motivated people to take it forward. The question remains that who would they be? I don’t know if I would quit everything to join the party as a whole timer. I might …again I might not. However this should not stop us from preparing the blueprint of this new ray of hope. I sincerely invite your suggestion to take this process forward. I do not think I have been able to answer Tushar’s question with crystal clarity. Anyone with a better idea…please pitch in.

MUSINGS OF CHANGE

Here comes the second post. But before that a few answers regarding the first one. The Dainik Bhaskar example expectedly drew a mixed reaction. As my friend Tushar pointed out, the advertisement was just to enhance the business interest of the Bhaskar group. But my senior Vikash said the advertisement made him think and he did give it more than a cosmetic glance. This can again be argued that it was just a good work of art and nothing else. An advertisement well made. But the fact remains, even if the motive is purely commercial, the incidental effect of giving the people a push towards doing that “Zid” , according to me, is worth an applause. Again the opinions can differ and hence is this space.

One of the comments that I received was from Soumallo. He asked for my opinion on the “apolitical parties”? These “apolitical parties” (as referred by him) are the smaller parties started out in an unconventional manner. There is one started out by Shiv Khera. He even contested the election from Pune. There are a several other smaller parties or groups stared out by the IT professionals, doctors, lawyers or students. They brand themselves differently from the conventional political parties.

They allow this tag of “apolitical” being attached to them because politics unfortunately has become a dirty word and the word “politicians” have become synonym for criminal. This mass stereotype has forced them into assuming this “apolitical role”. But parliament is not the only mark of politics. Politics is everywhere. According to its dictionary definition it may be defined as “Social relation involving authority or power”. There is nothing in this society that cannot be called apolitical. These small organizations too want to bring about change or at least claim to do so. If Shiv Khera is trying to be a part of the legislature then he has to be political in nature. Hence let us remove the notion that anything good is not political.

These parties however haven’t made their presence felt in the power structure of the country. One of the things they lack, is a mass base. One cannot bring about a change until and unless he has the numbers by his side. In politics, there is a wonderful art, called ‘cadre building’ and that has to be brought into play. Someone may have the noblest of the intention but if he cannot mobilize the mass to achieve it, he cannot be a great leader. These political parties lack the dedicated cadre building mechanism that is essential to develop a party.

Another aspect of these parties, is that they represent only one social spectrum, the urban middle class. Most of these parties are not connected with the grassroots. No party can come of age without seeking the support of the vast hinterland. Though they may be carefully tucked away from our TV screens, they too live in the same planet. And since election is about numbers, thankfully they at least have the majority there.

This middle class support base can also be seen as the hamartia of these political parties, at least for the time being. The great Indian middle class has a penchant dislike for voting. The IT crowd has achieved the greatest notoriety in this field. This is the group, which just doesn’t realize that to make an omelet, you will have to break the egg first.

But for that stronger heterogeneous India, we the middle class have to get out of our beauty nap and realize that the time has come when we can call for the change. And the quantum of change that is possible is really baffling. It is us who are the teachers, the lawyers, the civil servants and the police. It is also us who are in the business of media, medicine and the engineering. In short we build the nation. If we join hands and strengthen the arm of the democracy…may be through the parties, which Saumallo is taking about or may be form a new initiative. We can ensure that we change things for better. And for that we don’t really have to overthrow the system but have to just use it to the right effect.

Think just what all of us as individuals can do. All of us make a little difference at our work places and stick to our sense of right…voila we would feel the change in the air.

So as I end this blog… keep the comments going. Let’s evolve this revolution through the comments. We will have something concrete very soon.!

Cheers