Trishanku in search of the Philosopher-King

                                                    Trishanku in search of the Philosopher-King

I am not an aam admi because I have that much in my kitty to pay my water bill if I exceed my allotted 20 kilolitres of water and pay my power bill if I exceed 400 watts of free electricity.

 But I am not a khas admi because none of my articles or even letters to the editor are accepted by the newspapers and newsmagazines.

So I am like a Trishanku, - this and that, there and here. To use the trite English phrase- I ‘fall between the two stools’. Where does it leave me with the present changed political and national scenario?

The simple and short answer is I am stunned, I am bewildered, I am disconcerted, I am frightened. I do not know if any of my Trishanku tribe feels like me, but the gut feeling is there should be many. Hence this piece is on behalf of all Trishankus with a final clarion call to all of them:  awake, arise and disseminate these views to non-Trishankus.

We are stunned at the meteoric rise of AAP. It has been catapulted into the seat of political power in Delhi assembly. It is now eyeing enthronement on the National scene. It is praised by the entire media and by all those who are the inveterate TV commentators for changing the political script of the country. For the media and the acolytes of AAP, every pronouncement from Arvind Kejriwal booms like the AK 47’s assault on all the past 65 years of (mis) governance-( because for him and for AAP, nothing has happened in India post-independence)- making all political parties searching for hideouts to conceal their embarrassment. The chameleon that our media is, it has suddenly shifted its camera to focus on AK   and no more on Namo, least of all on Rahul.

We are bewildered as we are not able to know if it is a real happening or a reel happening. Maybe when the next water/ power bills come, we can pinch ourselves to reality. At present an announcement a day keeps AAP critics at bay. But as AK thunders against all corrupt people, and as Modi delivers his stump speech, we are confused as to who is the better basher of his opponents! While Modi holds a pistol to the dynasty’s head, AK fires his long range anti- corruption rifle at all erstwhile politicians. Even as Modi  punches the dynasty with his rabble rousing speeches, AK spares no punches to drown his opponents in a welter of corruption. We stand bemused at the theatre of abuse played on the political stage by the two and wonder if overblown rhetoric is really the answer to good governance! If Modi harps on Gujarat model, AK sings the aam admi tune of power to the people. We are bamboozled by the oratorical skills of the two as the Media sounds the bugle for the race to begin between Namo and AK. We wonder how to make a choice between the broom that sweeps us off our feet or the lotus that masks its ruthless ambition to ride to totalitarian power. Meantime the crystal gazing Media has written the obituary of the Congress as it stands no chance before AK and Namo and also before  the many State satraps (chieftains) who have tossed their hats into the ring for PM ship. The importance and the status of PM has never become so irrelevant as it is today. There is no room for Plato’s Philosopher King with access to ideas. Plato and his oft cited quote: “A true pilot must of necessity pay attention to the seasons, the heavens, the stars, the winds, and everything proper to the craft if he is really to rule a ship" are passe^’

We feel disconcerted because this is not what India needs today. The blitzkrieg against corrupt politicians is certainly a catalyst to good governance, but it stops at that. Whatever may be the take of AK, the new CM of Delhi, that governance is not a rocket science, the truth is the art of governance is not limited to just a corruption-free government. “Governance is the delivery of a number of critical public goods to citizens: security, rule of law, political freedoms, an enabling framework for economic performance, education, health, and so on.” In India, as per the latest data available, 27crores out of 123crores live below the poverty line. The government has to provide reasonable quantities and qualities of essential public good specially to the poor which points to framing strategies towards inclusive growth. Inclusive growth basically means “broad-based growth, shared growth, and pro-poor growth” that decreases the rapid growth rate of poverty and increases the involvement of people into the growth process of that country. While AK and AAP promise to provide manna to the poor, they have not spelt out their economic policies. Merely subsidizing power and water is not a healthy policy .The announcement of free water and poor is also a form of bribe offered to the voters. People will have to pay for the services they get; otherwise they will not value the thing offered to them. Power and water if given free (even to a certain limit) will result in enormous wastage of these essential resources.  It is in the nature of human psychology to ask for the sun if offered the moon free of cost, not understanding that the sun will scorch anyone who approaches it.  AAP has to be a government responsible for the aam as well as the khas admis and for the trishnaku admis like me. Modi, on the contrary is for dynamic industrialization as seen in his own home state, but it is not a model for inclusive growth. The Congress with its pro-poor policies has not been able to deliver the goods as per its promise. Thus we have an extreme left-centric party and an extreme right centric party and sandwiched between the two is a failed party that is like us a ‘trishanku’ caught between the left and the right. There is not a single leader among these different political groups who has come out with a vision to transform India not only economically, but intellectually, morally and spiritually. It is not enough being personally honest like Manmohan Singh or Modi, Rahul or Kejriwal, or thundering to cleanse the Indian Aegean stables but to uplift the Indian people from the morass into which they have fallen. Character building is also a part of governance and what we see today is total apathy to this aspect. If there is a bribe taker, there has to be a bribe giver. None of the leaders has so far addressed himself to raising the character of the people for  all the measures promised by them are at the punitive level only. None of them has inspired the multitudes to one-point agenda of being clean.

It is frightening to see speeches full of character assassination, accusations, high decibel mockery of political opponents and bribery charges hurled with no follow-up evidence, taking centre stage as political discourse. If people are asked to exercise their franchise on these bouts between personalities, it bodes ill for the future of India. Mere tokenism by symbolic renunciation of red beacons, security staff and bungalows will please a few. But to make such symbolic gestures without addressing substantive issues and mock at the previous governments is not in good taste. One does not expect a CM of AK’s integrity to say that his austerity highlights the contrast with the vanity of the previous CM. It is better to scale oneself up in order to lift those below to that level. If the leader stays on the ground level, it is a betrayal of the people who look up to their leader for a rise in their standard of living. Greatness does not consist in lowering one’s standards but in raising one’s standards for others to follow. Power to the people is only towards giving them voice to speak about their difficulties and to exercise their franchise, but not to abdicate governance responsibility to people’s mandate. Leaders have to lead and people have to follow unless the path chosen by the leader fails to stand moral and intellectual scrutiny.

A majority of people are like me Trishankus. We want to leap up to the standards of Khas admi and not jump down to the levels of aam admi.  In the bargain we will enable the aam admis to fill up the space vacated by us as we step up. Every day we hear thousands of people signing for AAP. Their numbers seem to be swelling and many corporate honchos are joining the party. Good, but can AAP unearth from among them a Philosopher-King whose purpose according to Marcus Aurelius-the last of the good Roman emperors-  is to be  ‘the very best human being one can be regardless of the circumstances one finds oneself in’.