Dear Voter,
The first two phases of our Dance of democracy are over. Five more on
the anvil. The third is on today. I should have written this letter prior to the
beginning of elections, but it is never too late. I do not subscribe to the media phrase “ too late
and too little”. In today’s world I
prefer the old age saying “many a little makes a mickle”. The reason for my hitherto
silence was I did not anticipate the
level to which political discourse will descend as it has done today. Thank God,
those who had sought votes in those two phases
are through with their steps and gyrations on the political stage. Many others are waiting for their turn to go
on the stage. None of our political masters have till now set the stage on
fire. On the contrary, the attempt by all the parties in the present election fray has been to douse the fire lit
by acrid political campaigners.
This election has so far witnessed the worst form of wordy duels v erbal
gymnasticsminus informed debates and. It has shown the Election Commission (EC)
not as a toothless tiger, but a tiger that is scared of using its teeth. At best its feeble efforts to enforce Model Code
of Conduct(MCC) appears as a lick and a promise
- a superficial effort made without any punch. I write this to tell the
voter not to look at EC to guide him/her as to who has and who has not violated
MCC but to come to one’s own conclusion before unleashing his/her power to press the button. What is important is elections as they happen
today are centred round personalities and not on issues that require urgent
attention by the newly elected leaders.. The Voter has to ask himself whether personalities
matter or issues or how to match personalities with issues!
Indian democracy runs true to the universal concept of a cyclical
order. As per the Hindu mythology, the
world runs through four Yugas- Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga,Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga which correspond to the
western concept of four Ages-the Age of Divinity, the Age of Aristocracy, the
Age of Democracy and the Age of Chaos. It is said that at the end of the fourth
Yuga or the fourth Age, the cycle
returns to the first order or the beginning.
I am reminded of T.S.Eliot’s description of the cyclical order of the world:
“What we call the beginning is often the end.
And to make an end is to make a beginning.
The end is where we
start from.”
India prior to its Independence
experienced the Satya Yuga or the Age
of Divinity under Mahatma Gandhi who inspired millions of Indians to follow the
path of truth and dharma. The first halcyon years after Independence, despite
the tragedy of partition, saw the ascent of aristocracy among our political leaders
who worked in unity despite their diversity of views and thoughts.
Nehru-Patel-Rajaji for example, were all distinct individuals with distinct
convictions but they worked in unison to leave for the future generation a
united pluralistic India, strong and
stable, tolerant and accommodating diverse faiths and religions. All the
political leaders of that era with their firm adherence to the principles of
democracy demonstrated the ideal of philosopher king where they regarded
themselves as the first among equals. After those euphoric years with the
transfer of greater power to the people, the Age of Democracy set in. While the
principle of shared governance and shared power is at the root of democracy, it
slowly became the rule of the masses where everyone felt he was the King, and
had the right to get what he wanted. The right of the individual, the right of different
groups formed on the basis of caste and class, the right of everyone to have a
slice of the national pie polarized society and obfuscated the truth about
democracy where the rights had to be subservient to duties of the citizens. He
who promised to bestow rights without
insisting on duties became the leader to be voted in. Today what we see in
India and in many parts of the world that claim to have democratically elected
leaders is a return to a new form of
plutocracy where the governance is given to a ruling class that derives
its power from being wealthy. In modern idiom plutocracy advances crony capitalism. In some cases plutocracy is on
a reverse gear to oligarchy- government by a small group of powerful people,
best described as bureaucratic monarchy, that is in evidence in India today.
This is democracy disguised as the rule of a narrow clique where the power
structure rests with a small number of people who have been give the license to
rule by the voters. The simple strategy of the new aspirants to leadership is to divide
the society, promise crumbs( as there are not adequate number of loaves to be distributed
to different sections in the society) and seek votes even if the promise
remains a promise from the political pulpit.
India is in a state
of ferment where the divisiveness is present in terms of wealth, ideology,
education,
caste, class and
religion. But we can overcome the current state of binary conflicts between the
haves and the have nots, between the rich and the poor, between the well heeled
and those down at heel, between the educated, the semi literates and illiterates,
between the right and the left ideologues, between majority and minority
community- and abort the divisiveness and bring back united India by realizing the
power given to us as citizens of the country. We have the power to press the
button and that too judiciously without being hypnotized by those who make the
loudest noise, whose promise of a moon seems superficially attractive, whose
theatrical performances appeal to the lowest common denominator. The last but the most significant pointer is
to deny our votes to those who galvanize
people merely on hate. It is easy for humans to develop hate than love because
the latter is founded upon selfless reciprocity of give and take while the
former is an affirmation of selfish anger
over what one receives and not what one gives. Human beings are genetically
wired to hate and this is exploited by those who seek power to rule them. The will
to power, so strongly advocated by the 19th C German philosopher
Frederick Nietzsche for man to transform into Superman and create new values in
place of the old values that have lost the
power to guide him is today (ab)used as the will to choose one’s actions to
gain absolute control or power over others. The will to power is laden with
narcissism, vanity, self glorification and we have to exercise abundant caution
not to press this will to power to rule us.
Let us vote. Let us vote with our mind, intelligence and rationality. Let us vote back philosopher kings to rule us. You may ask “are there any” Well, if none, press NOTA and wait for time to throw up the right leader at the chosen moment. The wait is not going to be a long wait as the nation is fortunate to have many thinkers and wise men who place duty before right. The man of the moment like Mahatma Gandhi will appear at the right time. We need to develop patience backed by faith (Shraddha and Saburi)-that the present moment , however dark it is, is a passing moment. The cyclical order that is in evidence in the clockwise rotation of the seasons, in the alternation of day and night, of sunshine and moonshine, light and darkness will run its course .The Age of Chaos will have to yield to a new Age of Divinity which will be different from the previous saga. In this new Age, history will begin its course anew from the high point it had earlier reached in the previous Age and bring back the most powerful maxims of humanity that have till now sustained human civilization. All we need is patience and undying faith in the universal order.
Vote , vote with reason, vote for the party which promises to reinforce
the idea of India that has been given as our heritage by our Constitutional
fathers. If no party stands for that
Idea of India that had been gifted to us seven decades ago, vote NOTA and wait
with patience and hope that the Age of Chaos will end and we will revert to a
new Age of Divinity as a true manifestation of the Eternal Recurrence.
