INDIA HAS SEVERAL NETAS BUT NO NATION-BUILDER

(This article was published in the Pioneer of 31/1/2014)

The emergence of a true leader who has the courage and the gumption to take on the system, and not merely tinker with it for marginal improvements, is the need of the hour. Unfortunately, this country is yet to be blessed with such a leader

It was an inspiring address, delivered by the first Prime Minister of independent India in the first hour of day one, that raised the hopes of an entire nation. The lines that really stood out in that tryst with destiny speech were: “The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?”

India has since then been a land of missed opportunities. Many wonder if we can afford to miss it this time again. Opportunity is not for a select few to occupy high chairs but for genuine nation-building. The realisation that nation- building requires the toil of generations and definitely does not come cheap, has not sunk into the Indian psyche. That there is no quick-fix, and a mere display of intentions and rhetoric is not going to take us anywhere needs to be understood. It is paramount that India’s Gross Domestic Product grows in sync with the developed world.

For the past 67 years, with the exception of the initial few, what the nation has witnessed is a clamour for power, purely for personal gains. Modern day political dynasties, that the nation has not been able to discard, have evolved out of this clamour for power. While some have maintained an association with power since that ‘tryst with destiny’, many other political families (though not as powerful) have also emerged and produced successful second and third generation politicians, occupying benches in the hallowed portals of Parliament and State legislatures across the country. We are taken in by names, and name-throwing has, therefore, emerged as the biggest past-time of the ruling and ruled classes.

What is nation-building all about? A great example is the rise of Germany after its defeats in the first and the second world wars. Its rise after the first war was fuelled by national pride and the leadership of one single individual; after the second, it was the collective effort of its citizens to restore the nation to  its earlier position of glory that made all the difference.

In India’s context, the issues are a bit different. At the time of independence, we were like a child who had been let free. A nation of uneducated people, torrid infrastructure, rampant poverty that was divided on caste and regional lines, was handed the baton with the mandate to govern itself. The ruling classes saw themselves in the same mould as the departing occupiers. Therefore, though the machinery for governance warranted a total overhaul, it was merely tinkered with for minimal effect. The euphoria of independence soon evaporated. Therefore, while minor improvements in infrastructure and major changes in the availability of consumer goods may be visible today, the nation has been slipping down the human development and transparency indices.

India is yet to be blessed with a leader who openly shares his resolve to take the nation forward. Someone who openly declares his abhorrence for corruption and resolves to hit graft at it its roots shall be the one who can build the nation of our dreams. A person who has a vision, sets targets and takes the nation forward by delivering, not merely pontificating on providing governance, education and infrastructure.

The emergence of a true leader who has the courage and the gumption to take on the system, and not merely tinker with it for marginal improvements, is the need of the hour.  Only such leaders are remembered as nation builders. All others merely had a great time.

The 66th anniversary

Today perhaps for the first time one feels the total absence of patriotic fervor on the streets of the capital that till a few years ago reverberated with the same on the eve of independence day. The eve of the sixty sixth independence day is indeed a moment of deep introspection, where have we gone wrong and is redemption possible?

Yes it is true that India has over time emerged as a member of both the atomic and space clubs and that gives us something to be proud of. The rapidly growing middle class and the proliferation of consumer goods is also a positive sign, yet one wonders whether these limited achievements can offset the failures and the acts of shame that the nation has been enduring with amazing regularity in recent times. Even the latest round of skirmish with our neighbour gives us a feeling of belonging to a soft state devoid of national pride.

Mere rhetoric that the nation is showered with on such occasions is not enough. We have to act and grow in the right direction. We have to bring back the spirituality and love for all creations of God that form an essential part of the philosophy of all religions. We have to revitalize the nation and once again aspire for the glory that the nation once had. .  

There have been many occasions in recent years when we as a society had to hang our heads in shame, but the one single incident that recently shook the collective conscience of the nation was the blatant suspension and harassment of Durga Shakti for an act that should otherwise have commanded admiration and appreciation of the nation. The triumph of evil over righteousness that we had sadly and silently been witness to suddenly acquired a new dimension with the governance machinery brazenly conniving with those who loot and plunder. The uproar has died down and the brazenness continues.

Notwithstanding the rapid downslide of moral values in the fabric of the society, it remains  the duty of the governments to abide by raj dharma, yet it is obvious that self gratification by the powers that be has taken the upper hand over principles of justice and equality.

A recent news item about the prime minister of Norway driving a taxi to assess the pulse of his constituents should indeed be an eye opener for the mandarins of this forever developing nation, the constituents of the sarkari machinery of which regard themselves as rulers and not servants of the society that they actually are. This distorted mindset has to change much before the nation starts changing for the better.

Abject poverty, failed governance, rotting infrastructure, rampant corruption, delayed justice and a rapid downslide of moral values fills the heart with anguish on this eve of the sixty sixth anniversary of the independence day.

The India of today is a nation far removed from the ideals that it held close to its heart while striving for self rule. It is obvious that the system of checks and balances instituted by the british and unfortunately perpetuated even during self rule led to the inspector raj that successfully brought the nation to its knees. The social structure that ultimately emerged is bereft of values of any kind and service, despite the piety it evokes has degenerated to service of the self cutting across the bureaucratic and political spectrum throughout the length and breadth of the nation.

Durga Shakti therefore faced the consequences of her action, an action that would have placed her on a very high pedestal had it taken place in a society that places righteousness above evil. Unfortunately the degeneration that picked pace in the early nineties now runs so deep that far from being considered laudable, such actions are punishable. Yet the inherent strength of her name and the radiance that she exudes gives hope that her resolve to take on illegal activities regardless of the strength of the powers that (mis)rule would indeed get strengthened with time. This case spurred by the media has caught the imagination of the nation, yet there would be many more where honesty is being brutalized. 

My recent participation in a course on Indian art was an eye opener. That till the 5^th or 6^th century Indian art was inspired by love for the divine and all his creations after which it started withering in favor of the sponsors and the rulers was indeed the most powerful message that emanated from the course. The various art forms of ancient times inspired by the divine were true creations of love with every single creation being a masterpiece. This is in stark contrast to the art of the present times that is driven by crass commercial interests and is therefore generally ordinary with only a rare few clearing the masterpiece criterion.

It was also inspiring to learn that the art of ancient times did not permit or promote portraits and the artist remained almost under cover as art was only for the joy it gave to the artist and the masses. The practice of self perpetuation through portraits and projection of the artist however started around the mugal era and has perpetuated ever since then. In the present times, the contemporary Indian art as they call it is chiefly inspired by the love of the moolah and the desire to be known, and therein lies the major difference in the quality of the art.

Perhaps it is the same in all fields. A work performed with crass commercial interests or for the sake of self perpetuation is bound to be inferior to the one inspired by the love and the joy of creation. Be it a teacher imparting education to children, a musician stringing his guitar or even a chief executive of an organization performing his role, a performance inspired by the good of the society and the joy of creation is always far superior.

What a fall, not only in the field of art is a striking thought that comes to mind. Another realization that dawns is the greatness of the Indian nation in ancient times, a nation so developed economically and spiritually that it is a striking contrast with the present day society smug even with depravity and self aggrandizement. Yet this day we all hope and pray that the nation would rise from the ashes and acquire her rightful place in the comity of nations.

Jai Hind!

Deglamorize the services!

The services need to be de-glamorized. After all the nation does not want its servants to join its services for glamour but to serve, yet the reality has remained otherwise since the day britishers walked out leaving us in the lurch.

The white man was immediately replaced by the brown, the Indian Civil Service by the Indian Administrative Service with the difference being that the brown guy surpassed the white by miles in his perception of and also handling of those he perceived he was the ruler of. What he failed to emulate was the sense of fairness and justice that the white skin possessed despite being the virtual rulers of the land. The rulers can indeed be pardoned for excesses, after all they were never one of us, but not the brown sahibs, who were till they cleared the exams, one of the impoverished humanity that this nation is composed of.

Cutting across services, one witnesses an almost total absence of the will or the desire to serve. It is indeed the penchant for self gratification, throwing their weight around and being regarded a few notches above the masses, albeit in a different league that fuel the desire to enter the elite group of those in the services. It is sad that merely clearing one examination confers the license to rule and exploit the nation for petty personal gains to all those who till they were on the other side of the fence, had like a commoner sufficient grouses against the establishment.

Very rarely does one come across a youngster who has made it and still has the fire and passion to really serve the nation and its masses. Most of the youngsters aspire for the services allured by the glamour associated, in the form of bungalows, white ambassador, retinue of servants, foreign jaunts, the servile attitude of those around and of-course immense opportunities of putting the hand in the till. It is indeed sad and the misfortune of the nation that these are what attract the youngsters into the inner folds of the government almost as flies are attracted to sweets. While all services offer sweet attractions, the premier service of the nation, the IAS stands out in its ability to offer its entrants what other services fail to offer, unbridled power and a stranglehold over the nation.

Service of the self needs to be replaced by service of the nation and its masses. That the tendency of self gratification that the bureaucrats display in plenty has absolutely no place in a poor developing nation like ours is a reality that needs to be appreciated and put in place for the nation to prosper.

The services need to be deglamorized and presented as what they really should be – in service of humanity.

The Ambassador

Being driven around in my swanky ambassador, I am often amazed at the sheer respect the car commands, irrespective the standing of the bloke sitting inside. While most of the latest variety of cars are ogled at, this is one car that has an aura of its own and commands respect tinged with fear. 

The Ambassador was once classified as the worst car in the world by a reputed British agency, yet surprisingly it had a small market in the nation of whites. Perhaps the snob appeal of the British gels with the aura that this car radiates and in tune with the servility that the ruling class displays in plenty, this stout car literally rules the roads like a tiger.

There is no greater symbol of power on the roads of our nation than an immaculately maintained Ambassador with bharat sarkar emblazoned on it. A light on top and a flag, even if covered adds tremendous value to the glamour and aura of this car. The cover if removed results in even the passers by freezing to attention. The Ambassador is indeed the only car that is generally never challaned for it would be almost a blasphemy for a traffic constable to do so. Traffic violations like entering a no entry zone and jumping traffic signals are acts that this car indulges into with impunity.

For this car, the Ambassador is perhaps the last vestige of the Raj, the raj of the British, when we were slaves in our own nation. An approaching Ambassador therefore tends to convey to the commoner the arrival of someone powerful from the ruling clan, even if the guy ensconced inside has serious doubts about himself. Yet the car gives the bloke a power that he perhaps does not wield or deserve.

And this leads me to wonder, whether life is all about symbolism that confers status and power, not rank and authority, in this nation of ours where good governance is still a far cry?

Restructuring Railways

The ongoing debate on the IRSME site about the superiority of SCRA vs DR has me totally foxed. While on the one hand one longs for the much awaited IRS (Indian Railway Service), their is still a band of people who would prefer to continue with the divide in the mechanical cadre, one of the nine disciplines of the railways.

It is rather sad that the railways, unlike other sectors of the government, failed to evolve with the times and sadly so, for want of a strong decision maker have preferred the status quo since the time the country came on her own in 1947. So while the nation is managed by one service, namely the IAS, the railways is (mis)managed by nine, with each service having a narrow sectoral focus and none, none of its officers having the capability to take an overall view.

The separation of the railway budget from the general exchequer, sometime in the early nineteenth century was done primarily on commercial considerations. It was felt by the british that the railways being a commercial organization would need flexibility in its finances and hence this decision. Unfortunately the railways have emerged as an extremely rigid organization, more rigid that even the typical government departments, thereby nullifying the original objectives of this decision.

The contractual mechanisms and typical decision making processes in the railways are rigid and archaic. Perhaps this is due to the lack of a will to change, a situation that has occurred primarily due to the multiplicity of services on the system.

It is high time, the railways get a chief executive who looks beyond the narrow confines of his service and pulls us out of the abyss we find ourselves in.

Leadership blues!

I stand in awe of the British. Could we Indians ever have conceived Vijay Chowk an expanse of over 1000 ft, or the north and south blocks or even the GT road or the bulwark of the Indian Railways. The answer is a big No. Look at all cities built by the Indian Maharajahs or the Nawabs and compare them with cities built by the British. Congested lanes, houses packed like sardines, inadequate civic infrastructure and a mess is what generally symbolizes our own creation.

I shudder to think what would have been the state of affairs had the British not entered India. Yes, it is a fact that they also drained our country of precious resources and wealth, but left to us we would also have plundered and wasted the same, of that I am sure.

A glance at the everyday's newspaper tells everything. There are negative reports encompassing every single sphere of our activities. There are serious shortcomings in every single sector of our nation, especially those where the sarkari tantra is in the leading situation.

If everything is bad, does'nt the answer lie elsewhere. Perhaps it lies in our inability to govern ourselves well. This is the disease and everything else is a symptom. But unfortunately, like a wayside quack, we keep ourselves forever busy trying to treat the symptom, without having even the foggiest idea of the root cause.

I am convinced that when we got independence, we were like a five year old who has been let free by the parents. The child would definitely run amok and ruin his or her life. Same has been our story as a nation. An immature and uneducated society was permitted to govern itself, and look where we are.

Is there no salvation? Is there no hope? The answer is a big NO. There is hope provided we are able to throw up the right kind of leadership that is able to lead the five year old (that we still are) through the ups and downs of life to mature into a human being that one can be proud of.

Will the nation ever get such a leadership? Only time will tell.