Why does nothing ever change in terms
of governance? Each election we dutifully line up to vote (confession: I never
have and never will, unless they threaten to send me to prison), but it’s the
same story: Messed-up cities, suicidal farmers, scams, nepotism, impropriety, crude
behaviour in public, crony capitalism, ‘VIP’ culture, you know the drill. And it’s
happening all over again.
The easy and the most popular answer
is this: All politicians are corrupt. lazy and inefficient. When we say that,
we completely shrug off our responsibility, and move on with our dreary lives.
And so of course, nothing changes. I believe the problem lies within us. Having
interacted with politicians over the years, of all ages and hues, I have
discovered that many of them don’t start off their careers like that. When they
are younger, or new to the top job, many aspire to make a difference to people’s
lives, but lose their way as they go along. Two recent examples are Fadnavis
and Kejriwal.
I seriously don’t think Fadnavis arrived
with his bags from Nagpur thinking he’d overlook misdemeanours by his
colleagues or that he’d hold up international flights or that he’d be happy to
see Mumbai go further down the tube. On the contrary. The sincerity he
displayed in his initial days in office was not a deception. Ditto with
Kejriwal, who I did an interview with (for Mumbai Mirror) during the days he
had just created his party, was a political wannabe, and no one gave him a
chance. But his desire to change Delhi’s fortunes was real, his intentions were
honourable, and he actually believed in ’people’s movement’. It was easy to see
honesty in his eyes. But the less said of Kejriwal of 2015 the better. He’s finding
innovative ways to let his voters down spectacularly.
And these are just two recent
examples. So then what went wrong? What went wrong is We, The People. Let me
explain with an example. In the year 2003 I had gone to interview the then CM
of Maharashtra, Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde, at his office (for Mid Day). As it
typically happens with most active politicians, he was nowhere to be seen at
the appointed hour, and I was horrified to see hundreds of people already waiting
for the big man. This meant if the mantri decided to attend to them first, I
would be kept hanging for hours and hours, perhaps the whole day. (Yikes!)
As soon as Shinde arrived (two
hours late, not bad!), the hundreds of those waiting converged on him and fell
his feet, colliding with each other in the process. Who were these people?
Ordinary folks looking for a quick favour. School admission, sanction of a
loan, relief from police harassment, job in a government firm and so on. And
there were those who decided to fall at his feet as a ‘future investment’. The
scene was similar to what would happen at his Puttaparthi ashram when Sathya
Sai Baba appeared to grant ‘darshan’. Even though I was cringing at the sight,
I knew this activity goes on all the time, with every neta, in every part of
the country.
Now when you get treated like god, day
in and day out, you need to be a person of very strong character and values to
not let it go into your head. And you don’t need research to tell you that post-independence
India boasts of many things, not included in that list is people with those
qualities. For the average Joe, this heady cocktail of power, perks and blind
mass reverence is a trip difficult to handle, the neta’s mind goes for a toss,
he begins to think of himself as a superior being, Son of a Greater God. And
the first thing that evaporates is the good intentions he had carried with him
to the job.
The question therefore is this: Why
are we a subservient nation? There is no easy answer to that. It could be
because of poverty and illiteracy. Or because our masses are basically insecure
people, having been repeatedly let down by their leaders. I suspect the number
one reason is the colonial hangover which refuses to go away with the passage
of time. The goras are long gone, but we are still on our fricking knees.
What’s the cure for this hangover?
When will we begin treating our politicians as co-workers, on equal terms, as
it happens in the developed world? I have no idea. I can suggest remedies for
booze hangover, not for this.
(Photo courtesy: Indian Express)
