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Opinion
The Grand Old Party and The Brand New Mr.
Twitter
by Pramod Khilery
Even if austerity were a cow Shashi Tharoor wouldn’t have milked it every
time he wished to drink milk. He would have had it on his table. Unlike
his colleagues he doesn’t consider austerity to be a cow though opposite
may be true. A cow to be seen with is to be perceived grounded and austere.
To boot, a milk drinker always enjoys a reputation that can bring enough
applauds for being a butch soiled in the true Indian style especially in
north India. Austerity doesn’t have a beginning or ending as against any
ministerial position, nor does it have insides or outsides. Neither
austerity is a skeleton attracting mercy or empathy nor it is a bout
needed to be won but a thought exuding aroma of a side of petals of
virtues a person happens to possess. Austerity is also not a preserve of
poor and nor can we say austerity is a facsimile for monasticism. In
strict sense of prevailing austerity drive, the statue of self denial
would be more lasting and weather braving if it were to have a plinth of
genuine compassion and a desire to form bridges with those who our
politicians claim to represent. If Tharoor can be casual as a politician
after having been a top notch diplomat we too can chortle and forget and
if possible even approbate his frankness.
Reprimanding Shashi
Tharoor for his cattle class remark (actually it could also be his holy
cow remark which Tharoor later ascribed to illogical dogmas went
uncommented) by politicians who wear white austerity laden kurta pajamas
and culture depicting sarees and lead a seven star lifestyle was
tantamount to ordering a scholarly book to be an apt audience to a
municipal election speech rendered by local muscleman. If as innocuous a
remark as ‘cattle class’ can hurt the sensibilities of common man what
about a 30 vehicle cavalcade wending its way through a busy road making
the common man having to try all the possible alternatives to get to his
office or home or wherever he dared. Because the remark cattle class
piqued the senses of economy class travelers of airlines who actually
are little less common compared to millions who put up with the
indignation of being stowed in buses and trains diurnally not like
cattle but like roosters in a cage before being butchered it deprived
our honorable champions of austerity an opportunity to speak up for
those for whom austerity is the only choice in their lives. Mr. Tharoor,
next time when you tweet make sure to consider the real common man and
say, “yes, I will travel in chhakda class in solidarity with
cadaverous and perspiring holy cows.” I am pretty sure neophyte
converts to austerity era would have more to say on why did you refer to
buses as chhakdas than on the plight of cadaverous holy cows that they
milk to the last drop and bloat their bellies.
If people like
Nandan Nilekani (not yet in politics but still in the waters) and Shashi
Tharoor who had been living in clover have jumped into the mire at the
risk of malodorous stain then it is an example to be admired. Tharoor is
a dapper and dandy but not corrupt. He is the face of the politics we
had long desired to see in India too. He happens to be amongst those who
can contribute to the nation instead of becoming a termite and
sucking-in everything coming their way. Our most politicians, sons of
the soil whose bank accounts have seen the swelling more on account of
their vices than virtues consider politics a game to be won not a cause
to be pursued. How many of these crying foul over one tenuous remark can
afford to tell us what they do in their daily lives? If Pranab Mukherjee
thinks Tharoor and Nandan Nilekani dwelling in humbler-by-a-politician’s
standard bhawans can help government look more connected to masses then
it is a good thought but I suspect half Sisyphean one.
If we
cast aside controversies surrounding Tharoor that had very dangerously
seemed to hijack the whole austerity drive set off by Congress
leadership thanks to Congress’s foolhardy reaction, all in all still
this is a positive step. But this positivism will be somewhat
efficacious if instead of just traveling economy class or boarding
trains our politicians put some effort into becoming unfeigned receptors
to the ordeals their subjects endure. It is good if it percolates down
and has a cascading effect on all the layers of government.
If
government is really serious about presenting a Spartan face then it
should not stop at some visible explicit photogenic gesture. If it is to
really have this austerity drive taken seriously by their ‘common man’
then they ought to think not of saving money and wasting time but of
saving time as to accommodate extremum work and bring the pelf
squandering and sufferings down as much as possible. In as big a country
as India government has already many folds more on its plate than it can
cater to and the biggest service to the nation and its common man will
be to have the maximum possible grievances addressed. Politics in itself
is an act of austerity if the politician can transform himself or
herself into a true leader. Any self conscientious person with a genuine
feeling of solicitude for his subjects is bound to serve them without
waiting for any reward in return. And an act of service is an act of
austerity. That has been the hallmark of great leaders since time
immemorial.
Its sixty two years now that we have been living
with a colonial hangover. Our politicians are too much into being
imperious and peremptory and our common man too happy to be at mercy of
circumstances and being servile, obsequious and content with the plight.
So much so that pot bellied corpulent caricature has become the most
perfect symbol for a politician and an emaciated bunch of bones for the
common man. This crystallizes the conclusion that difference and
distance is too much and bridges are required. If someone like Tharoor
who is neither a traditional politician nor a common man can act as
bridge what is the harm. More the number of such bridges better it is
for the nation’s politics and its image among the people who matter most
but still don’t. Common man will have to realize politician is not
ultimate boss and shaper of lives but someone with a job to be done and
politician will have to understand that a job well done earns respect
not avoiding it or even dramatization of it.
Note: The term
common man (aam aadmi) has come to represent both genders in
its collective meaning and in no way excludes or offends the womanhood.
September 22, 2009
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