Fixing our backyard...
When I first saw the events unfolding in Mumbai on my TV, a myriad emotions ran through my brain – shock, pain, hurt, distress, then anger, and then finally, frustration. I was tempted to rush to my laptop and indulge in the cathartic activity that is writing/blogging. But I did not do so, scared of what would come out. Beneath all our pretensions of civility we are, after all, animals…
I felt it would be safer to venture forth into the world of the written word once one was sufficiently calmed down. And so I watched, felt, and listened. Amid all the different things one heard, there was one sound that, for the first time, refused to die down. This was no wail of the hurt and helpless Indian; it was the roar of the angered Indian, of people who had finally decided that this WAS the limit.
This was the roar of the common man against all those thugs in khadi that have the audacity and temerity to pass themselves off as our leaders. As our ‘netas,’ as people worthy of being protected, of people being so valuable that the government dedicates the nation’s elite military wing to guarding their asses while they shit on the public day in and day out.
These ‘netas’ are the people that have redefined 'politically (in)correct behavior – locking up their stooges during election time in five-star resorts so they do not run off to the opposition, hurling abuse and tables and chairs in the nation’s Parliament, bringing down a government because their man was not given the chance to milk the common man and fill his coffers… The sad part of it all is that we put them there in the first place.
I began wondering how it came to pass that a nation of a billion people put together a collection of such self-serving rogues as our elected leaders. The instant temptation is to cry out ‘Shame on us!’, but does that help? The answer is ‘No.’ Because that would be an exercise in futility, a trap we would do well not to fall into. It cannot anymore be just about pointing accusatory fingers. It has to be about finding out what is wrong and fixing that.
Because something sure is desperately wrong. It has been for a long time, and it is high time we woke up to this fact and fixed it. Ourselves. Because no one else is going to do it for us.
So what would we have to do? Not throw the leadership into the seas, obviously. That would not serve much of a purpose other than bringing down the population count by a few worthless hundreds. The answer would be to find a fix in the system. To fix larger intangibles and tangibles, such as corruption, abuse of authority and power, and other such higher issues. It would be easy to say that these are easy to say but almost impossible to do. My answer to that is it has to be done.
Take for instance the average leader we have; let us start at the municipal level. Who are these guys? Educated guys with a sense of governance, morality, responsibility, ethics, dignity, and other such traits that would go a long way in determining good leadership? Responsible individuals that take it upon themselves to embrace politics to bring about a change in the lives of the Indian population or, forget such high thinking, at least in the lives of other members from his ward? 9.95 times of 10, the answer to that is simply ‘No.’
What is the objective of a person who enters politics today? Is it betterment of society and ensuring that all Indians are able to live decently? Is it a career goal with personal advancement along the way (that is acceptable as long as personal ambition does not overshadow the basic purpose of getting oneself elected as a ‘people’s leader’)? Or is it a way of getting rich quick and ensuring they are able to subvert every rule in the book to guarantee for themselves a fortune and for their family a ‘richly ever after’ story? We all know the answer to these questions.
There are many more such questions that crop up, all at the very basic level. How many netas do we have of ‘average’ or ‘middle class’ income? How many netas have we had that were born rich? How many netas do we know that are ‘successful’ and yet untainted? We know the answer to these too.
What we have basically is an assortment of crooks, cowards, and rascals with limited or no vision, people who are not able to see beyond their own personal gain. The aim of someone entering politics today is mostly to:
a) Ensure they make enough money to last them a few lifetimes
b) Use the power available to a politician to stay out of reach of the law and evade punishment for offences committed
c) Indulge themselves in the pomp and splendor that is attached to the life of a ‘leader’ in democratic India today.
When your base levels are that pathetic, it is stupid to expect much from the higher echelons, because the base defines the system, and while you may find more educated people at the top, the system ensures that their mindset is the same as those at the bottom – shallow and steeped in personal gain.
So how is it that these people are able to win elections and project themselves as our leaders? There are two factors that contribute majorly to this – the naivete of the poor Indian at the grassroots and the emphatic power of money. The politicians use a combination of these two factors to drive their agenda, often symbiotically, to achieve their ends. In the suburbs and towns, we have ceased to care, to bother. And so it is that a crook with a criminal sheet longer than the Great Wall of China becomes my leader.
India has been about dynasties all through its history. Dynastic politics exists even today in India, with the leading light being the Nehru-Gandhi family. Another word commonly associated with ‘dynasty’, besides ‘power’, is ‘wealth.’ All such political dynasties have at their beck and call untold wealth, all gained at our expense, which they use to further their agenda of greed, selfishness, and power.
Another question that I cannot resist asking – what is the average age of our national leadership? We know the answer to that one too. Our senior politicians are halfway to the grave, many three-fourths of the way, actually. And yet, we see no semblance of a sign of a young and dynamic leader. The only face we get to see on TV these days that does not look like father time’s wickeder cousin is Rahul Gandhi, and that too because he is being groomed by his mother to take over the reins of the country.
So is it that in this nation of one billion there is only one young Indian fit to lead the country to better times? Hell no, I say, and this is a statement we all need to make, and this is something that we all need to believe in, that there are people even now, among us, who have the wherewithal to lead this great nation to greater days.
What is basically required is a total overhaul of the system. Equally important is a shift in focus. Being in politics cannot be about making money. It has to be about ensuring that the people of this great country get what they deserve – a good life and prosperity. Governance and good sense have to be aligned side by side.
Corruption has to be rooted out. Elected and selected officials have to be made to understand that our money is not for them to take, but for us to give for tasks done well. The word ‘accountability’ has to find its place in the lexicon of Indian public life and politics. With all of this, there is a possibility that we will be able to evolve a system that is designed for governance of the people, not their exploitation in the name of religion, votes, and what-have-you.
This would be the first step towards a stronger India. It is wonderful to read that though the American president is a Democrat, he is going to have men in powerful positions who are Republicans. That kind of thing is what drives good governance. I do not say that by having a Republican in his government, President Obama is going to change the world. But he definitely knows the value of the individual removed from his political affiliations, and that is what we need to understand and imbue as well.
All of this would help us build a strong foundation for a stronger India, something that we have not had even 60 years after independence, because our leaders have been doing their best to ensure they remain leaders and we their servants. Now is the time to take steps towards building these foundations.
Once we are strong internally, once we have cleaned up our act, then and only then will we have the moral fortitude and courage to take on others who have wronged us and harmed us, those who brought death to our cities’ roads and homes. Until we undertake this internal exercise, we can posture and rattle our sabers all we want, we will not be able to do anything much about ensuring no external power threatens us like it has in recent times.
This is not the one-stop solution for dealing with cross-border terrorism, if I may say so, all of what I have written. It is however something that is critical to our well-being and something that would go a long way in helping us fix all the problems that afflict us, including cross-border/global terrorism. It is something we need to do internally so that our lives are better and so that we have people in higher places of governance with the passion and zeal to take steps and ensure no one, I repeat, no one, has the balls to come and create mayhem in our backyard without suffering the obvious consequences of such an act.
When your base levels are that pathetic, it is stupid to expect much from the higher echelons, because the base defines the system, and while you may find more educated people at the top, the system ensures that their mindset is the same as those at the bottom – shallow and steeped in personal gain.
So how is it that these people are able to win elections and project themselves as our leaders? There are two factors that contribute majorly to this – the naivete of the poor Indian at the grassroots and the emphatic power of money. The politicians use a combination of these two factors to drive their agenda, often symbiotically, to achieve their ends. In the suburbs and towns, we have ceased to care, to bother. And so it is that a crook with a criminal sheet longer than the Great Wall of China becomes my leader.
India has been about dynasties all through its history. Dynastic politics exists even today in India, with the leading light being the Nehru-Gandhi family. Another word commonly associated with ‘dynasty’, besides ‘power’, is ‘wealth.’ All such political dynasties have at their beck and call untold wealth, all gained at our expense, which they use to further their agenda of greed, selfishness, and power.
Another question that I cannot resist asking – what is the average age of our national leadership? We know the answer to that one too. Our senior politicians are halfway to the grave, many three-fourths of the way, actually. And yet, we see no semblance of a sign of a young and dynamic leader. The only face we get to see on TV these days that does not look like father time’s wickeder cousin is Rahul Gandhi, and that too because he is being groomed by his mother to take over the reins of the country.
So is it that in this nation of one billion there is only one young Indian fit to lead the country to better times? Hell no, I say, and this is a statement we all need to make, and this is something that we all need to believe in, that there are people even now, among us, who have the wherewithal to lead this great nation to greater days.
What is basically required is a total overhaul of the system. Equally important is a shift in focus. Being in politics cannot be about making money. It has to be about ensuring that the people of this great country get what they deserve – a good life and prosperity. Governance and good sense have to be aligned side by side.
Corruption has to be rooted out. Elected and selected officials have to be made to understand that our money is not for them to take, but for us to give for tasks done well. The word ‘accountability’ has to find its place in the lexicon of Indian public life and politics. With all of this, there is a possibility that we will be able to evolve a system that is designed for governance of the people, not their exploitation in the name of religion, votes, and what-have-you.
This would be the first step towards a stronger India. It is wonderful to read that though the American president is a Democrat, he is going to have men in powerful positions who are Republicans. That kind of thing is what drives good governance. I do not say that by having a Republican in his government, President Obama is going to change the world. But he definitely knows the value of the individual removed from his political affiliations, and that is what we need to understand and imbue as well.
All of this would help us build a strong foundation for a stronger India, something that we have not had even 60 years after independence, because our leaders have been doing their best to ensure they remain leaders and we their servants. Now is the time to take steps towards building these foundations.
Once we are strong internally, once we have cleaned up our act, then and only then will we have the moral fortitude and courage to take on others who have wronged us and harmed us, those who brought death to our cities’ roads and homes. Until we undertake this internal exercise, we can posture and rattle our sabers all we want, we will not be able to do anything much about ensuring no external power threatens us like it has in recent times.
This is not the one-stop solution for dealing with cross-border terrorism, if I may say so, all of what I have written. It is however something that is critical to our well-being and something that would go a long way in helping us fix all the problems that afflict us, including cross-border/global terrorism. It is something we need to do internally so that our lives are better and so that we have people in higher places of governance with the passion and zeal to take steps and ensure no one, I repeat, no one, has the balls to come and create mayhem in our backyard without suffering the obvious consequences of such an act.
posted by The Wise Man From Hell @ 11:47 AM
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