Selling Dreams and Winning Elections

After going on a hectic and eventful trip,the 2014 Lok Sabha Election roller coaster comes to a mighty halt today. And there emerges a 56" chested confident-looking man, bearing the hopes and aspirations of a third of world's population,all on his wide chest. The load of responsiblity on him is heavy,but so were the dreams that he sold to the people.

There is nothing unexpected in the results,save for the numbers and statistics. Everybody knew who was going to win and who was going to fall. When the Bharatiya Janata Party, riding on the blinding charisma of its leader raided the polls like a juggernaut, the 'Grand Old Party' of India turned out not to be even a worthy opponent to it. Reasons behind the emphatic victory of the saffron-party is largely attributed to the cult-like persona of Narendra Modi-or more popularily 'Modi Wave'-but it was the anti-Congress sentiment that made even the 'Modi Wave' relevant. The 'aam admi' wanted a relief from an always ascending price rise,an ever increasing rate of unemployment and a never ending rally of multi-billion dollar scams,and when somebody with a touted track record of good governance promised him this relief, he fell for it.

Narendra Modi now bears a heavy load of expectation:from his party,from the industrialists,from investors,from diplomats all around the world and of course,from the common Indian citizen. It will be his priorities from now on which will determine his place in the books of history,rather than the margin and magnitude of his election win. His immediate attention should fall on the country's economy and easing the burden on the common man's already-dented pocket. Along with achieving this on a war-time footing, he should pay attention to develop the country's infrastructure and boost the confidence of industrialists to invest more in India. Given the edge he has in the Lok Sabha, this can be easily done without going through the hassles of a coalition. At the same time, it should be among his top priorities to develop friendly diplomatic relations and continuing the healthy relations towards the global players, especially to our immediate neighbors. Modi's way of handling international relations and issues will determine India's role as a global super-power, which he has promised us. Article 370,Ram temple and Uniform Civil Code can wait.

The NDA leadership should emboss in their minds the lesson from Congress. The people have given them a chance to prove themselves worthy of their promises. I wish them all success and at the same time reminds them that it is the same people that they are to face 5 years from now. Make sure that the 'Modi Wave' has enough wavelength to last until then.

A Prejudice Proved Right

I always disapproved scions. I viewed every son of a famed father or a member of a famous family with a prejudicial eye. When news about Dulquer Salman's debut in Malayalam cinema was the talk of the town, I told myself:'All this hype is only because he is the son of Mammooty. He may be just another mediocre actor,which Malayalam cinema has in plentitude.' Similar was my line of thought when Fahad Fazil,whose father is the legendary director Fazil,started his second innings in the industry. But I was wrong. With movies such as 'Ustaad Hotel' and 'ABCD' ,Dulquer was soon one of my favourites. So was Fahad, who just bagged the Best Actor award in Kerala State Filmfare Awards.

Howsoever different may politics be from movies, I held the same prejudice towards Rahul Gandhi also. Years back, when he made his first parliamentary speech, when everyone praised his matured style and body language,I didn't find it so much enthralling,for nothing exceptionally good or novel was put forward by him. Afterwards, I don't remember hearing much about him for a long time. When India started feeling the heat of General Elections by the end of 2013, news about Mr.Gandhi also started appearing in media and I started watching him more closely. And the more I watched, I started feeling for the first time that my prejudices for Mr.Gandhi are right.

It was his occassional utterances about poverty and 'state of mind' and 'escape velocity of Jupiter' among others, that made me seriously doubt about Congress' choice of its leader. Who could say to a hungry and poverty-stricken lot of people that all you have to do to do away with poverty is to change your state of mind, and just walk away? Who would have the insanity to tell an ignorant group of villagers, who may not even know what Jupiter is,about its 'escape velocity'!

Then it was his 'rhetoric' about the Representation of People Ordinance. Although I was disapproved of the Ordinance for its leniency towards convicted politicians, I was wonderstruck upon Mr.Gandhi when he said that the Ordinance should be torn down. He simply disregarded the laborious work done by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet with a simple excercise of his tongue. The Congress had no other option but to repeal the Ordinance,as Mr.Gandhi was to be projected as the face of the party in the approaching General Elections. He just made the Prime Minister of this country look like a fool. My conclusion was that this was either a grand(at the same time,dumb) plan by Congress to showcase its leader's influence and power in policy-making, or that Mr.Gandhi was ignorant about the tedious efforts that went behind putting forth the Ordinance and the repercussions of his deed. Owing to my prejudice,I believed in my latter conclusion.

If I had any doubt regarding the ablity of Mr.Gandhi as a leader,all was cleared when I watched his first ever interview to a news channel. I was convinced that Congress is doomed with Mr.Gandhi at the helm and so would be India, if he ever becomes the Prime Minister. The disastrous interview must have surely costed Congress a couple of Parliamentary seats. And when Ram Jethmalani said that Mr.Gandhi doesnt have the intellectual capacity to hold the top post, I said 'Amen'.

I was outraged on hearing that Mr.Gandhi skipped the farewell dinner for Dr.Manmohan Singh. It was an outright dis-respect to the only  honourable man in Congress,who,in-spite of all the accusations against him, held his personal integrity,honesty and noblity uncompromised. Through his action,Mr.Gandhi once again proved his ignorance and hot-headedness. Through this single act,he proved his lack of respect towards elders and that all his hyped visits and stay in poor villages and show of affection was just a mockery.

In a country where thousands of highly qualified graduates and hardworking people find it difficult to get a job and make both ends meet, here is a man,whose even educational qualifications are questioned by many, offered the top job of governing the country. A man,who was born in the lap of plentitude,brought up like a prince and who hasn't ever known the grey shades of life, now potected even from the blames of failure of the party,about which he is also as responsible as any party member is;and should have been responsible,like a true and courageous leader should be.

I pity you Mr.Rahul Gandhi! The whole youth of this country pity you. When will you grow up and be a responsible man? For the sake of this country, I hope not soon.