Let not ambition mock their useful toil

                                        Let not ambition mock their useful toil

Times have changed. I am not talking about the usual whine of old people like me, to lament the generational change and nostalgically speak about those days past as though  honey and manna had  then poured from heaven and the world overflowed with genteelness, when attention to the rules of polite and refined behavior was the rule and any deviation from it was frowned upon. At the same time it is naïve to say that all that was past cannot hold a candle before the assertiveness, dynamism and individualism of the present where self effacement is no longer regarded a virtue, but a pretension to humility.

The present is the age of Selfie. It has changed the way we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. In fact Selfie and the social media have changed the way of our behavior, our action and talk. Take a Selfie and post it on the Facebook to share one’s new look, new haircut, new style to receive compliments from fellow FaceBookers (and occasionally to be  trolled). This is the modern method of staying connected and feeling smug that we are at the  centre of everyone’s thought and concern.  This is a new means of creating one’s image for the world through aggressively foisting the Selfie on others. Selfie is showing off one’s own perception of himself or herself without the least sense of self consciousness. What a difference between the inhibiting self consciousness of the past and contemporary solipsism!

The picture Selfie is complemented by the word Selfie- an exaggerated account of oneself as presented in one’s Curriculum vitae(CV) or what we termed in the old world lingo, Bio-data. Today speaking about oneself in the most flattering terms is deemed a virtue and not something to be shy about. It is no longer viewed as being brash, impudent and arrogantly self confident, in stark contrast to the uptight lives that we had led in our times. The brasher one is, the more one is heard and respected.

 During our youth, four decades ago, we were brought up on the wisdom of the 18^th century poet, Thomas Gray, who wrote

                                    Full many a gem of purest ray serene,

                                   The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:

                                    Full many a flow'r is born to blush unseen,

                                   And waste its sweetness on the desert air

and we preferred to remain unseen , delighting in what we did even if no one sang our praise.  Recall the millions of Indians who sacrificed their job and participated in the freedom movement.  In our own way we loved our incognito status with enormous self pride that we were like the purest serene gems and blushing flowers full of sweetness and beauty. We knew our brightness and radiance would be visible to all and we therefore needed no Selfies( it is another matter this Selfie technology was not with us then).

The present is the age of self trumpeting. Politicians all over the world engage a lot of spin doctors to promote good will with the public. Leaders do not shy away from the microphone to package old ideas and make them appear new. What is important today is not so much about what one does as what one is perceived to do. Perception is the new mantra but this perception is no longer visual but mental and psychological. Politicians handle perception so deftly that negative perception is directed at the opposition and positive perception at themselves.

The second anniversary bash of the Modi sarkar was in the nature of a massive Selfie to match the mammoth poll promises made before the new government took over. Many promises remain promises while a few-notably Congress-mukht Bharat has been amply fulfilled.  It is too early to say whether the rest of the  promises will become a reality- two years is  not enough  as it is not  even one half of the massive five year gift given by the people to Modi Sarkar.  Three more years remain to be in office and it seems a hasty decision to tom- tom what any government in power in normal course  would have done. But unfortunately the spin doctors had forgotten Robert Frost’s lines 

                                                 But I have promises to keep

                                                 And miles to go before I sleep

                                                 And miles to go before I sleep

The underlying meaning of these lines is affirming a new path of governance and fulfilling the promises made. What the Ministers had stated in interviews they gave to government owned TV channel was what they had done in the last two years and that too on the presumption that people had been blind to their work and therefore they have to be told about it. The last two years, despite all the trumpeting, had not yielded the desired result in terms of improved governance, reduction of prices of essential commodities,a fresh roadmap for quality education, a new strategy for bringing equity without compromising merit, an implementable and practical plan to provide the promised two million jobs to the youth, a dynamic  vision  to make India overcome its caste bias, religious intolerance, gender insensitivity, mental cum moral  corruption and physical hygiene. No one spoke about the need to blend modernity with the essence of ancient wisdom while  steering clear of the overloaded accretions accumulated on that wisdom over many millennia. Mere platitudes and slogans about one’s daily quota of  designated activities are the Selfie approach that pretends to connect with masses  without touching their emotional and inner chords.

It is time that our politicians, leaders, and those who occupy influential positions in the country understand the true meaning of selfless work that needs no broadcasting. Good work done is obvious to everyone. Even the opposition that tries to blunt the worth of genuine work will be mocked at if it spreads negativity. It is equally true of the ruling party not to indulge only in calumny about the opposition. With such a massive majority, its behavior to banish the opposition from the face of the earth by bombast and bluster may work against it and  against whatever good work it had done- for example in the areas of power, railways  and improved financial investments.

There is no need for birthday bashes on such a lavish scale and expenditure with Bollywood bigwigs adding to entertainment. The progress report that the people should give ( and which they have given in a fairly balanced and objective manner)  should not be made by those very people whose work is being assessed. The money, the showbiz, the verbal onslaught on our visual and auditory senses left many of us mentally fatigued to respond to what was going on the TV channels. Let not the Modi sarkar become too ambitious about getting a second innings that is still another three years away. Let not their work be superseded by display of Selfies broader than life.

Let them understand Gray’s wise counsel:“Let not ambition mock their useful toil.”