The land of the rising sun

Pun intended India is indeed the land of the rising sun. Spelt otherwise with an “o” replacing the “u”, the line defining the nation still holds good.

Almost all of us offer water to the morning sun, as a religious ritual as well as a daily practice borne out of habit, yet we never perform this ritual for the sun at dawn. And the penchant for a son also far outstrips the desire for a progeny from the fairer sex.

The massive national tilt and adulation for Modi even months before the battle for the ballot is also indicative of the national culture of caring only for the rising sun and consigning to the dustbins of history, the setting sun. On the other end of the political spectrum, the fortunes of the numero uno political dynasty of the nation, is on an all-time low right now and the tilt away from the family in favour of the rising sun was therefore on expected lines. The official working environment cutting across sectors and states also moves on similar lines and allegiances keep on getting shuffled around on considerations of who is the rising and who the setting sun is.

While some may call this adulation of the rising sun as unfortunate, perhaps it is the most natural thing for a human being except otherwise in those rare cases when greatness is achieved by one’s own acts of omission or commission and not merely resting backsides on a chair of authority. In such cases the sun never sets, it only rises and keeps on rising forever, Mahatma Gandhi being a fairly well entrenched example of this kind.

Perhaps therein lies the difference between power and authority. While the chair grants authority that men generally flaunt, power always remains personal. Men for whom the sun sets merely had authority, not an iota of power and that is the reason for their fading into oblivion after leaving the chair they enjoyed resting their backsides on.

The massive national shift of power and the emergence of a true leader after almost a decade of blatant mal-governance may indeed make the country the land of the rising sun almost literally.

Amen!