Meaning of MY Life!

I was born on Teacher’s day – 5^th September, much to the delight of my parents and grandparents. My parents had three daughters, and as was the norm then, were happy to see a baby boy in the mix. My grandfather, who had built a Ganesha temple at our native village of Nerur, had just completed the ‘Kumbhabhishekam’ of that temple! Hence, he not only named me Ganesh, but asked a jeweler to open his shop and bought me a gold chain to adorn my waist! Like little Ganesha, I was a very naughty chap and my vague memory of my younger days were my periodical thrashings from my father and my fights with my immediate elder sister. My father, being in a place without much of schooling facility, sent me to a boarding school at the age of 6 or 7. I was reluctant to leave my mother and go but had no choice. Nevertheless, that experience of staying away from home at such a young age made me adjust to all situations and made we what people today call a ‘people magician’.

I rejoined my parents as they moved to a large city when I was in my 9^th grade. Teenage years were fun. All girls in the class looked ravishing beauties! Obviously, you have a crush on most of them. Outdoor games were the norm. My parents used to shout at us for being outdoors all the time. Cricket, Lagori, ball Badminton, Tennis – you name it, we played it all. We did not leave indoor games either. Life was a carefree endeavour without much thought about the ensuing day. Then came the time when we had to enter college. Only then I slowly realized that I must do well and get a job! That seemed to be the priority in life and the sole purpose at that point in time. My college mates were brilliant and you cannot be a duffer when the whole class oozes with brilliance. I did well in studies and got a probationary officer’s job in a Nationalized Bank – a prestige those days. My life’s ambition and purpose seemed to be over!

It was at this juncture, my brother-in-law introduced me to Vedanta lectures by a Swamiji of the Arsha Vidya Gurukulam founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswathi. These lectures, including topics like Bhagavad Gita, Mandukya Upanishad etc., gave a different perspective on life. It set me thinking and I attended more lectures including those by Swami Parthasarathy and a host of others. I read a lot of books on Vedanta and non-dual literature. I built a house, got married and had children – activities that most of us did as part of living. However, my value system had a solid foundation in our Vedic tradition.

My wife’s brother gifted me a book titled ‘COSMOS’ by Carl Sagan which rekindled my interest in Physics (though I was a honours student, I hardly knew Physics, but scored very high marks!). Being away in the US, without the family, helped me to read a lot of books on cosmology and Quantum Physics. On the one hand, the vast expanse of the empty space extending to billons of light years, accentuated our insignificance as a species. On the other, to know that the distant galaxies and we are made up of the same stuff, made my mind expand as vast as this Universe. I was often wonderstruck at the grandeur of creation. If this was macrocosm, the quantum physics was the microcosm. The concepts and discussions on reality seemed to be mind boggling! The modern scientific thoughts seem to be converging on what non-dual Advaita talked about thousands of years ago – Adi Sankara being the one who expounded it with his Bhashyas.

Once you are born, you have to die! That is the only thing that is certain. In between we live a life and as I had explained, go through various phases of life which has also been explained beautifully in the Sastras. The million-dollar question is, “Is there a purpose or meaning in life?” Great minds have discussed this over centuries. I am too small a person to attempt this. Nevertheless, I shall attempt to do so purely from MY perspective.

Sankara defines Reality at three levels. It must be understood that Reality is only one and for our easy understanding three different perspectives were discussed. For our present discussion, we shall restrict it to two. The first level is the ‘Vyavaharika Sathyam’ – transactional reality or empirical reality. This is what we experience as the phenomenal world of appearances that we take to be real. The subject-object duality. The other perspective is ‘Paramarthika Sathyam’ – Absolute Reality - which is the highest Truth or ONLY ontological reality – that is Brahman. 

From an Absolute Reality perspective, the entire creation of names and forms that we see are technically called “Mithya” – neither real or unreal and many times wrongly attributed as “illusory”. Then such a construct begs an answer to the question as to why this Absolute one appears as many? What is the purpose etc. Even the great Sankara answered that it is ‘anirvachaniya’ – inexplicable. Hence there is no point in discussing our life’s purpose from an absolute stand point.

However, our scriptures state that, as explained earlier, the world of pluralities is ‘Mithya” which is caused due to ‘Avidya’ or ignorance and our sole purpose in life is to transcend this ignorance through rigorous self-knowledge and become one with the Absolute. This is what modern Gurus call ‘Awakening’. However, most of us do not bother to go anywhere near such an endeavour, including yours truly except for feeble attempts from the periphery!

Hence for our discussion, coming down to our phenomenal world is more appropriate. Do I have a purpose in life? I have taken sessions to managers on Purpose and goals etc., But seriously come to think of it, life, in MY humble view, does not have any stated purpose. We lead a life, trying to be a good human being, socially responsible, being helpful to others, follow your ashrama dharma’s, take care of those who are less fortunate than you, pursue your passion etc., Pablo Picasso summed it up succinctly when he said,” The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to gift it away!” If we analyze life more than this, I feel that we cannot find any answers. Victor Frankl, a nazi camp survivor, wrote the classic ‘Man’s Search for meaning’ and he believes that individuals are strongly motivated to find meaning in their lives, understand the nature of their personal existence and feel it is significant and purposeful. I believe that it is very psychologically satisfying to feel so. All of us need to become, what modern Psychologists call, a ‘Self-actualized’ person.

However, I am a dreamer and philosopher at heart. I would go with Emerson, who said,

“To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and affection of Children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a little bit better, by a healthy child,

A garden patch or redeemed social condition;

To know one life has breathed easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.”

Nothing more, nothing less. I equate success with living.

Bertrand Russell one of the greatest thinkers of modern times talks about this very eloquently in his book “The conquest of Happiness” as follows:

“The happy man is the man who does not suffer from either of these two failures of unity, whose personality is neither divided against itself nor pitted against the world. Such a man feels himself a citizen of the universe, enjoying freely the spectacle it offers and the joys that it affords, untroubled by the thought of death because he feels himself not really separate from those who will come after him. It is in such profound instinctive union with the stream of life that the greatest joy is to be found”.

With such profound thoughts in the background, I go through life enjoying the spectacle it offers always believing that the Universe is unfolding as it should.

Despite all the trappings of success and achievements of the phenomenal world, the fundamental yearning for that limitless freedom and to be one with the Absolute will remain with us forever. It is simple yet not easy to achieve. There has to be an intense desire to achieve that in this lifetime followed by sustained efforts in that direction. Unfortunately, for most of us, neither the desire nor the efforts seem to be forthcoming. We seem to be contented with the fleeting joys and achievements of the empirical world!

As for me, I shall renew my attempts with more resolve and vigour, now that this question has been asked of me!

Hindi or No Hindi!

I graduated in 1974 when I was 21. Jobs, as always, were far and few especially for “vanilla” graduates. Mrs. Gandhi’s nationalization of banks had given a fillip to branch expansion and that was my only hope. My father, in all his enthusiasm to encourage me, got me a probationary officer’s guide which cost him Rs. 15/=.  There were no coaching classes or internet to get information on finger tips. Competition Success Review magazine was a constant companion. I embarked on project “job hunting” in all earnestness! I appeared for all exams that allowed me to appear – from Management trainees to clerks to Probationary officers! I had appeared for an entrance exam for IIM, Calcutta in my final year and that was a tough nut to crack. But that failure was certainly an experience to cherish for compared to that, the PO exams were, to put it Chennai parlance “Jijubi”. I got selected as probationary officer in 2 banks besides as a clerk in another Bank. God was kind was all I could say with a sigh of relief!

Canara Bank was a great place to start my career. Having had my initial training stint in Jamshedpur in Bihar and Dhenkanal in Orissa, I was finally posted to Moradabad. It was in Western UP and I landed there with lot of trepidation. I did not know the language and it was far away from home. My first day in office was quite intimidating. Most of the staff spoke only Hindi and I was asked to manage the “bills” counter. In walked a gentleman and he asked in chaste Hindi “Saab, woh chautha sow pachpan bill nikaaldo”. I felt as if I was hit on the head by a Joffra Archer bouncer. Cheques were written in Hindi numerals. The pay in slips were also in Hindi. I cursed the Tamil Zealots back home who did not allow folks like us to learn Hindi. But then, being a positive person that I am, I sought the help of a local colleague, Mr. Ved Prakash Dbey ji – we called him Dubey ji. He gave me a brilliant idea – watch movies! That sounded a great idea and since he was a forced bachelor, he used to accompany me to at least 3 movies a week! All the Amitabh Bachan starrer of those days like Zanzeer, Kabhi kabi, Amar Akbar Antony were seen gleefully. The morning radio sounded Kundan Lal Saigal and evenings were with Ameen Sayani. Mohammed Rafi was my all-time favourite. Soon enough I started learning Hindi, the right way!

My Hindi was very chaste without the Tamilian accent and people started accepting me as their own. One problem with learning Hindi in UP is the usage of, what we call “Sanskrit” words in between. For those who are uninitiated, we call it swear words. You see these words lovingly uttered by our Virat Kohli whenever India takes a wicket. You will not understand the pleasure of mouthing these words unless you have lived in UP or up North. I had a colleague by name Triloknath Chaturvedi – and his name implies that he was a master of 4 Vedas- nothing can be farther from the truth. If he opened his mouth, it would be the choicest of “words” in Hindi. And he was a great influence on me, so much so, I started using a similar language! Once I was travelling from Delhi to Amritsar with my friends and a vendor tried to cheat me. I unleashed a barrage of abuses selected from Chaturvedi’s exclusive dictionary. An elderly man, obviously stunned at this onslaught, sitting opposite to me, seeing us talking in Tamil earlier, gently asked me in Hindi “Are you a Madrasi?”. I said yes and he responded “Even I do not know so many “good” words in Hind!”. My friend Chaturvedi must have been proud seeing the progress of his protege! 

Then I moved on from there to various places, left the Bank and worked in Puerto Rico before moving to the US. In Puerto Rico, a Spanish colleague proudly told me that his Indian friends had taught him Hindi and much to my liking uttered all those “good” words that I had forgotten in a while! On return to India I joined HCL. For some strange reason all sales and marketing guys in IT companies are North Indians! My Hindi helped me to build a bond with them and whenever we had something to quietly discuss which the client should not know, we always switched to Hindi! Needless to add, I have built lasting friendships with many of them. And after all the drama, I have retired to a senior living home which is run by North Indians and yes, my Hindi helps here too!

So, the point I am making is that learning a language is definitely an advantage and enriches you. I appreciate Mr. Modi’s speech for most of the part, enjoy Kumar Vishwas’ kavi sammelans, enjoy reading jokes in Hindi etc., I can go on and on. Similarly, I have also learnt Kannada and can speak reasonably well. And you can see the pleasure in someone’s face when you talk to them in their native language. It is priceless.

By learning a language, I don’t think Tamil will lose out. But unfortunately, those who defend Tamil are those who do not know the beauty of the language. There is a vast literature in Tamil and I am sure most of these chaps do not even know the ABC of these classics. In modern days who would know about Sekizhar or Silapadikaram or the great Thiruvalluvar. They generate new words that are extremely colloquial and purists like me do not understand. For example, for one of my FB posts, one person had commented “mass sir!’. I did not know what it meant. I quietly called my niece and asked her what it meant. She said mass=awesome as if it was something universal like E=MC² ! Recently in our senior living, we conducted a competition where people had to speak extempore for a minute on a given topic without using English words. All of them failed! So much for our Tamil skills. As for me, I am making it a point to read Tamil devotional classics like Thiruvasagam etc., and am fond of quoting from Thirukuaral. More than Tamilnadu, it is Tamil folks in countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, France, Canada are fostering the language the way it should be done.    

   

So long as it is not compulsory, I guess learning a new language is a great advantage and one must make efforts to learn a language whenever an opportunity arises. There should be no coercion. At the same time, if there is a necessity, I feel that people will learn a language. After all, all languages are beautiful and are useful in some way. So, the more languages you know, the more friends you can have! What else one needs?

MODI-2.0

Heartiest Congratulations to Mr. Modi and BJP for this stupendous victory. Most of us did not expect such an overwhelming response by India! In a way it is good because, reforms can now be pushed through at a much faster pace.

Leadership is one of the key drivers for success of an organization – be it an enterprise, or a cricket team or a political party. It is the leader who communicates his vision to his constituents. This message as well as the messenger is of utmost importance. I had written about Mr. Modi’s leadership in my blog http://nsgmusings.blogspot.com/2019/04/is-mr-modi-truly-great-leader.html on 12^th April. I had also ended that blog with the lines that till a worthy challenger emerges, Mr. Modi is THE Man. He is a great orator and very cleverly he made this election as Modi vs the rest – a sort of presidential referendum. So, the candidates became irrelevant. He kept repeating “your vote to Lotus is a vote for me!” Marketing Gurus can learn a lesson or two from Mr. Modi. It is great to have a vision and strategy. You will come a cropper if that strategy is not executed properly. Just imagine Dhoni as captain tells his bowler to bowl a line and the bowler does not heed his advice! Here again BJP scored big time. If Mr. Modi was BJP’s face, Mr. Amit Shah and his band of karyakarthas were the arms and legs working behind the scenes to make this happen on the ground – not only during elections but much before that. Unfortunately, none of the opposition came anywhere close to BJP in these two aspects. All they had to say was “remove Modi” – which seemed to add to Mr. Modi’s popularity. Of course, there were many other factors that were at play for such a huge victory.

Having said that, in a democracy, a strong opposition is a must. Whether one likes it or not, Congress is the only pan India party. In all fairness, it started off after independence as a left of the centre, liberal, secular party. But over the years right from Nehru days it had changed slowly initially but accelerated during Mrs. Gandhi’s period. The Congress today is not the Congress that was formed initially. India NEEDS a party like that. Congress would do well to reinvent itself, build grass root level workers, promote regional leaders, ELECT a LEADER through democratic means and START FROM TODAY. We can then hope to see a challenger for Mr. Modi in 2024. If they still harp on old methods, I am afraid this trend cannot be reversed soon. As for all the other regional parties with 5-10 MP’s and aspiring to become prime Ministers, what can I say? I think we should slowly move towards a 2-party system like in the US.

As Mr. Modi rightly pointed out in his acceptance speech, the election rhetoric is over. The reality is staring at us. It is fine to be euphoric for a few more days. After that, the new Government has its task cut out. The economy is not in great shape. While the inflation is low, the growth at 7% may not be good enough. There is huge Government spending and oil prices have been favourable. Some industry sectors are not in good shape. Banking needs a fillip. Consumption has slowed down. Jobs need to be created as unemployment is one of the biggest problems. Agrarian crisis is for real. Something needs to be done about it. Water management also needs immediate attention. Interlinking of rivers is a project worth pursuing. The MSME sector needs to be given an impetus which would also contribute to job creation. We can go on and on – but I guess one gets the drift. It is another matter that these were not issues in this election. Further Mr. Modi cannot blame his predecessors now for he was at the helm for 5 years! The budget in July will be very interesting and will give us an insight into shape of things to come.

It is here that I feel that Modi’s supporters must play a constructive role and hold the Government accountable. People should remove their supporter cap and wear the critique cap. Whenever the Government makes a dubious decision or a poor implementation, I think all supporters should raise the issue. For heaven’s sake, please do not make Mr. Modi larger than life equating him to GOD. He is also not infallible like any of us. He is bound to miss a trick or two and let us be vigilant. After all, we the people, have given him this opportunity.

And finally, I am glad that Mr. Modi spoke about inclusive growth. This is a must. For some reasons, the social fabric of this country is under pressure like never before. He must be the soothing balm and carry the entire nation with him – true to his word “Sab ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas”. The fringe elements in all sections of society that are wreaking havoc on the social cohesion of this great nation must be reined in with an iron hand. This land has a glorious culture of accommodating everyone and is by nature Dharmic. That tradition must be maintained. Mr. Modi can be the catalyst to accelerate this process.

I am sure he will be the leader of every Indian – whether he is in India or abroad – and work tirelessly for the glory of this nation as he has been doing hitherto. It is our duty to contribute our bit in this great endevaour. I fervently hope that Mr. Modi would work with the integrity and intent that he is known for with malice towards none and charity for all. May GOD be with him. Jai Hind!       

Is Mr. Modi truly a Great Leader?

Leadership is a nebulous subject. There are as many opinions about leadership as there are leaders! Are leaders born or are they made? The debate has been endless and hence there is no simple answer to this vexing question. ”Who is a leader?” and what constitutes leadership has also evolved over the ages. The essential trait that makes a good leader has also changed with time, with a strong correlation to the context in which it is discussed.  However, some Gurus who have been writing and coaching leaders all over the world have written innumerable books about leadership. Hence it would be appropriate to go by their views assuming that it is the distilled wisdom of the current age.

And what is leadership? According to John C Maxwell, one of the leading authors on leadership, the true measure of a leader is Influence, nothing more nothing less. If this is what he says about corporate leadership, this is more so in the case of political leadership. In his classic “The 21 irrefutable laws of Leadership”, in law no 2 called the “Law of Influence”, he states the following as the key factors that make a leader. I have summarized them as under with my subjective assessment about Mr. Modi.

1.    Character – who they are: True leadership always begins with the inner person. People can sense the depth of a person’s inner character. The fact that so many people adore him, so much so, they are called Bhakts is because of who he is! His integrity, sincerity, discipline, hard work and commitment to the nation is what makes people admire him. People perceive him as one who has no personal axe to grind. A hypothetical question to test this trait would be to ask “Would people vote for BJP without Modi?” I am sure a majority would not vote for BJP! That speaks for itself. Character of a leader matters. Some people say that he is authoritarian and does not trust anyone. He is ruthless. He treats his opponents not as adversaries but as enemies. Maybe. Nevertheless, even his worst critics do not cast aspersions on his integrity, character, hard work and commitment. My rating for this trait is: 8

2.    Relationships – who they know: With deep relationships with the right people you can become a leader in an organization. Mr. Modi, being nominated as the PM candidate in 2014, from being an unknown persona, is probably the starting point. He was the most vilified Indian politician in India and abroad so much so our elected MP’s sent letters to US asking them not to grant visa to an elected CM of a state.  Today his supporters include many of the PM’s and premiers of different countries. He was the first PM in Independent India to visit Israel – and their PM calls him my friend - and Mr. Modi had the audacity to visit Palestine, a sworn enemy of Israel, immediately thereafter! And despite being portrayed as anti minorities locally, he received the highest civilian award from 2 Islamic nations – UAE and Saudi Arabia. And India was invited to the OIC for the first time as a keynote speaker despite the protests from Pakistan! Based on his request, the first Hindu temple in UAE is being opened. Apart from his numerous international awards, he is considered one of the top international leaders of this time. His entire image and that of India have undergone a tremendous change over the past 5 years without a doubt. And his direct connect with the people is brilliant using unconventional tools like the outdated radio! On the downside, it is said the he has sidelined seniors who have built his party. He ignores his cabinet and runs the show with his PMO and bureaucrats. He has no friends in his party. He has complete disdain for the Main Stream media and so on. There may be elements of truth in these allegations based on anecdotal evidence. My rating for this trait is: 7

3.    Knowledge – What they know: Information is vital. You need a grasp of the facts to develop an accurate vision of the future. Leading a nation as vast as India with internal complexities coupled with a highly sensitive external relationships is no ordinary matter. Obviously no single person can have the expertise in such diverse areas like technology, economics, healthcare et al. Experts assist a modern leader. But the leader should be smart enough to understand these nuances and take the final decision owning up the responsibility. Mr. Modi, despite lacking any experience of even being an MP, has learnt the ropes of managing a nation fairly quickly, a fact that was even acknowledged by our former President Mr. Pranab Mukherjee. Maybe at times, he portrays himself as a “Know all” with an over confidence tinged with a bit of arrogance is what some of his detractors say. He does give that impression at times. My rating for this trait is: 6

4.   Intuition – what they feel: leaders seek to recognize and influence intangibles such as energy, morale, timing and momentum. This is something that Mr. Modi is a master. Both on the Government side and on the political front, he has been amazing with his indefatigable energy, timing and setting the narrative. To me the 2014 election was won purely based on his passionate campaign and unbelievable travels criss crossing the country. Having intuition is one thing, but articulating that to the masses is another talent altogether. Here again Modi is a magician. However, his critics point out that he goes overboard with his theatrics at times and is attention seeking hogging the limelight to himself. Maybe there is some validity in their arguments too. My rating for this trait is: 8

5.    Experience – where they have been: the greater your past challenges, the more likely your followers will let you lead. Here again Mr. Modi scores high because of his experience both as an administrator as chief minister and the challenges he faced due to riots in Gujarat and the prolonged enquiries and investigations he faced. His formative years as a RSS pracharak have taken him to the nook and corners of the country and he is aware of the ground realities that have shaped his experience. The opposition barb that he is only a “chaiwala’ was catastrophic, as we have seen. My rating for this trait is: 7

6.    Ability – what they can do: the bottom line is followers want to know whether you can lead them to victory. As soon as they believe that you cannot deliver, they will stop following. This is absolutely true in India! India is a complex country with numerous segments with varying expectations. Hence there is bound to be claims and counter claims as to what Mr. Modi has promised and what he has delivered. Sifting the wheat from the chaff and looking for data amidst all this cacophony, I personally feel that he has done reasonably well. He has risked failure by implementing projects like GST, has been firm in dealing with militants, going ahead with Swachh Bharat programme despite ridicule, enhancing the usage of Aadhar, Jan Dhan, Ujjwala scheme, housing for poor, improved infrastructure, opening up defense production under Make in India, improved tax compliance, containing inflation and fiscal deficit so on and so forth. There have been misses too like job creation, farmer’s distress, etc. Could he have done better? Absolutely yes. However, it is fair to say that he has delivered reasonably well in this short tenure.My rating for this trait is: 6

So Mr. Modi scores 42 out of the maximum 60 which works out to about 70% which is really good. It is a moot point if we benchmark any other current political leader against the same traits and see where they stand. Of course, I have used a framework by one author whom I know. There could be several other frameworks similar to this which could also be used.

Marshall Goldsmith is a very highly ranked Executive coach and #1 leadership thinker in the world. In his recent book he states that “Leadership is a matter of how to Be, and not how to Do.” This resonates well with the framework we discussed earlier. He goes on outline the development of leadership over the ages. He also emphasizes that another paradigm that we need to consider when evaluating leadership is to see how future proof these leaders are. Based on extensive research, he has identified seven key trends that have emerged and will dramatically impact the leader of the future throwing out all the old assumptions about leadership because of the cataclysmic changes that we are seeing in the evolution of our nations. Will Mr. Modi fit this emerging framework? Well, I suggest that you fit in the arguments of the earlier framework and decide for yourself!

The seven key trends are:

1.    From thinking locally to thinking Globally

2.    From requiring uniformity to seeking diversity

3.    From understanding one technology to becoming technologically savvy

4.    From leader as a knower to leader as a learner

5.    From eliminating challenge to encouraging constructive dialogue 

6.    From leading in the Hierarchy to Building alliances and teams

7.    From the leader as Boss to leader as facilitator

While this framework essentially for the corporate world, as stated earlier, we can extrapolate it to apply for political leadership as well.

Finally, I would also like to establish a difference between two concepts, namely fact and opinion. While this may not be relevant to leadership per se, it assumes significance in the arguments for and against a particular leader. A fact cannot be disputed – like India got independence on 15^th August, 1947. Opinion, on the other hand, is someone’s view of a particular event or situation based on his perception, understanding and interpretation of facts. For example, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was a better Prime Minister than Mr. Manmohan Singh is something that cannot be settled – all of us have our own opinions on this argument! Opinions generally tend to be coloured by prejudices, swayed by emotions and persuaded by ideologies that one may profess. It could also be deliberately biased.  Even if shorn of all these aberrations, an opinion is an opinion and not a fact. Unfortunately with the advent of social media, our polity and the followers of various leaders and parties are not able to differentiate between fact and opinion. Hence no one is able to digest - leave alone appreciate and disagree with - the opinion of another person. We see discussions descending to levels of indecency that are not acceptable in a civilized society. We need to bear this in mind while evaluating and discussing all issues, more so political ones including political leadership.

In the final analysis, going by the definitions of leadership discussed above, in my humble opinion, I feel that Mr. Modi is truly a great leader with a mass following that this country has seen after independence. Yes, he may have his failures and failings, like many other leaders of the past. But in the pantheon of current political leadership in this country, I do not see any worthy challenger. Having said that, another great leader will emerge over the horizon when there is a dire need, just as Shastri ji came to the fore after Mr. Nehru’s demise! Till then, Mr. Modi is THE man!

Bibliography:

1.    The 21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership

By John C Maxwell

2.    Work is Love made visible

By Frances Hesselbein

    Marshall Goldsmith

    Sarah McArthur

Giving Doles - a boon or a bane?

I was elated to receive the news of my promotion in late 1982. Thanks to Mrs. Gandhi’s Bank nationalization, hundreds of youngsters like me not only had a job but also had a rare opportunity to be of service to people. The euphoria was, however, very short lived. A transfer order followed, posting me as a branch manager to a rural branch in Tamilnadu. While the challenge of managing a branch independently excited me, having lived all my life in an urban area, the prospect of living in a rural village with a young family was not appealing. However, as luck would have it, I was permitted to stay in a big town closer to the village and operate. This gave me some relief. However, when I say that those 18 months of work in the rural village was an experience of a life time, I am not exaggerating even one bit.

Unless you live in a village, you don’t understand the caste equations and the dynamics which the politicians seem to be fully aware of. Having been brought up in a house with an egalitarian mindset in a city, caste and religion were not even talked about in our house. But what I saw in the village was just the opposite. Everything revolved around caste which seemed quite incredible. To cite an example of the prevailing situation, let me share an instance. After having my lunch, I always walked across to a petty shop, managed by an old lady, to have a banana. I used to call the old lady “Patti” meaning grandma as she was very old. Once my landlord came along with me and when he saw me calling her thus, he gave me a bewildered look and said, “Why are you calling her Patti? You are a Brahmin and she is an AD.” Innocently I asked him what is “AD?” He replied it stands for Adi Dravidar meaning that they were Dalits! I was stunned! I asked him where caste comes into this whole transaction. After all she is like my grandma in terms of age and what is wrong in my calling her thus? It was his turn to look puzzled though he had no answer.

Caste apart, the inequality was very stark too. There were farmers who lived in opulence owning property in acres living in farm houses with all the facilities – tractors, bikes, cars et al. On the other side were the Dalits who lived on other side of the village totally shunned by the upper caste. There were landless labourers too getting a pittance as wages after toiling hard for a full day in the hot sun. And women were paid less for the same work!  I was aghast when I knew the farmers got very little after toiling hard for almost a year when they tried to sell their produce in the market. The middlemen pocketed most of the money while the farmers got very little for all their hard work. The rural economy was pathetic! Taxes were unheard of in those places! I learned a lot of agriculture and its economics during those eventful days.

Those were the days of Congress regime when the minister of state for finance Mr. Janardhan Poojary was at his peak. He used to invite Bank managers to public meetings where borrowers were present and literally pulled up the manager for not granting loans to the public in full view of the public gathering. Managers were portrayed as villains in these tamasha euphemistically called “Loan Melas”. While I did not have a firsthand experience of such a circus, it was the talk of the town those days. There was pressure on all managers to give loans especially under the 20 point programme of Mrs. Gandhi and schemes like Integrated Rural Development Program (IRDP) where the poorest of poor were given loans at 4% interest with subsidy as high as 50% of the loan to the SC/ST beneficiaries.

I was young, idealistic and in all earnestness, I wanted to implement the Government’s programme in a village that had been adopted by my branch. In this village most of the residents belonged to SC/ST. The men folk were weavers. It was the practice there that these weavers wove mats for a master weaver. The master weaver always advances a fairly large sum to these weavers so that they work for them regularly. I felt that we would help augment their incomes by sanctioning loans for the women folk to buy milch buffaloes. By selling this milk to the nearby cooperative milk society, they would be able to increase their monthly income by about 400-500 rupees (which was a good sum those days) based on the milk output. I spoke to them and all the women got the form approved by the Block Development officer (BDO). I was told that to get this subsidy of almost 1500/= for a loan of Rs. 3000/=, they had to spend at least spend Rs. 1000/= as bribes to the VAO, BDO etc., I couldn’t do much about it.

Being very earnest and sincere, I took the local veterinarian with me to a market about 60 kms away, identified good milk yielding buffaloes, about 30 of them, completed all formalities and distributed these animals to the respective beneficiaries – all of them women. I ensured that the loan was utilized for the purpose for which it was sanctioned. I had also made arrangements with a local milk society to collect the milk on a daily basis and the villagers were also paid based on the fat content of the milk which was measured using a lactometer.

I had a sense of pride that I could do something for this socially and economically weaker section of society. I spent a lot of time with them educating them about importance of savings, family planning (yes, family planning!) educating their children etc., My colleagues at the branch used to make fun of me saying that had I chosen to stand for elections in that area, I would have won hands down. Both DMK and the ADMK councilors of the area were my supporters too. As for caste, I was accepted by every community as being one of their own!

All was well with the world for a month. Then one fine morning the master weavers turned up to the Branch and in a chorus said “Sir, you have totally ruined our business!’ I was nonplussed as I had nothing to do with their business! Then they explained that the weavers, for whose wives I had given a loan to buy buffaloes, were not turning up for work. Instead, they were drinking with the extra money that their womenfolk brought and failed to turn up for work. Once again I made a visit and gave them a big lecture about the evils of drinking and the need to save money. It was a sight to see – I was seated in a cot that you usually see in such small huts and the villagers used to either sit down or stand. There were no mobile phones those days to take selfies and post it in FB! The situation improved but a new problem cropped up soon enough. The villagers complained that the milk society was adulterating their milk with water to lower the fat content and they were being paid less because they were Dalits. I picked up a fight with the President of the society and threatened to make a complaint to the collector that he was harassing Dalits which was a criminal offence. He also fell in line. To the villagers’ credit, they were paying their dues very regularly.

I was transferred to another branch and the whole village saw me off. I have never again seen such love and affection for a person who only did what he was supposed to do. Even after 20 years of my leaving the branch, people were still enquiring about me! Be that as it may, a few months after I left the place, I ran into my old colleague. What he told me shocked me. He said none of the villagers for whom I had toiled to give these buffalo loans were repaying and they were back to their old ways. I felt really sad but it was a lesson for me that I will never forget. More of it a little later.

Now let us look at the famous NYAY scheme that the Congress announced in their election manifesto. Much has been said and written by people more erudite than me and in the know of things. But pointing out to a few contradictions will not be out of place. The economists who were “consulted” like Mr. Raghuram Rajan (RR) and Mr. Abhijeet Banerjee (AB) say that many subsidies have to go and perhaps the taxes may have to be increased. The inflation will also go up. Mr. Sam Pitroda, the man who has been taking Mr. Rahul Gandhi around and parades him before the public in overseas locations, says that the middle class should not be selfish and should be prepared to dish out more taxes etc. To cap all these, I saw the interview by Ms. Barkha Dutt (BD), with the master himself – with Mr. P Chidambaram (PC) – yesterday. It was a classic interview which the crass may choose to call it bullshit while the more urbane folks of the likes of Mr. Shashi Tharoor may call it obfuscation. PC says this scheme will motivate people to try other things – what and how is not clear. To a question as to what would finance this as this is 1.8% of GDP, PC disagrees saying that the denominator is not constant meaning the GDP will grow and the scheme when implemented fully over the next 5 years will not be that high. She then quotes RR and AB saying that they have stated that some subsidies have to go and that Congress has not mentioned them in the manifesto. PC haughtily replies that she has to take time out to read the manifesto in greater detail. This is only a manifesto and once they are in government a design team would be formed – and he doesn’t know who would be there – would deliberate and come out with specifics learning lessons from the ground looking at such schemes from other countries etc.

On her further insistence about subsidies he cooly responds saying that there are over 800 subsidies, some even dating back to 100 years and he is not sure which ones would go, despite BD stating that RR said so. My question is PC was in government and FM to boot, why did they not rationalize subsidies then? Instead of a simple yes and getting on with the interview, he goes about beating around the bush circumventing the issue. He also has the audacity to say that this is only a manifesto and not a cabinet paper! The next question was on the source of funds and would there be a tax increase. PC’s answer is a classic - PC at his best. He said that the middle class is a child of India’s liberalization which was created by the congress party and their policies. So Mr. PC, what? He also says each economist has his own way of raising resources and that they would not burden the middle class (with taxes I presume!). He nonchalantly asks her to wait till they come to the form the government! When asked about India’s inequality, PC says with disdain that India’s prosperity is unequally and unfairly shared and goes on to cite Thomas Piketty (The Economics of Inequality). When BD says that Piketty has recommended inheritance tax to punish the rich, PC says he does not endorse Piketty’s recommendations! Being an articulate man, PC has given nothing away during the entire interview leaving the listeners with the same questions that they started with!   

Now coming back to my experience narrated earlier, I strongly believe that you cannot give doles to people and make them come out of poverty. This needs enormous individual efforts and an effort by the government to change the mindset of these poor people. Unless a person wants to change and improve, no force on earth can make him / her do it. You can take a horse to the pond, but cannot make it drink. In psychology it is called an ‘internal locus of control’. So do we twiddle our thumbs and watch it all unfold? Absolutely not.

They need education, primary health, skill development, better means of agricultural production, sanitation, housing, social equality, self-belief that they can earn and live with dignity and an overall feeling of subjective well being. Any well meaning government should start investing in these areas and look at long term benefits rather than short term political gains. Why are the creamy layers of the various reserved categories still enjoying all the benefits denying these fruits to other deserving people? There has to be a comprehensive reform to end all this and look at alleviating poverty. We have tried out giving doles and writing off loans for decades without any desired result!

It needs investment in a number of areas that are not even talked about today. Doles are being given in other countries but only as a temporary respite from loss of jobs. It is not a permanent cure for a chronic problem. In my experience with the villagers, the government was supportive with subsidy, the Bank had implemented it with dedication but it still failed because the people were not motivated enough to grow and move on. The motivation that PC so eloquently talked about will not come just like that after seeing a paltry sum of Rs. 6,000/=. They would only spend it on consumption of white goods and other wasteful expenditure. Poverty alleviation needs much more and these schemes will only create a generation of alms seekers.

In my humble opinion, NYAY is conceptually flawed and the efficacy of the scheme is also questionable based on my experience. In addition, it also appears to be detrimental to the overall economy of the country. It is for people to decide if this is going to be a game changer or a last ditch effort by the Congress to woo voters.       

       

Prime Ministers - from Nehru to Modi!

I had never seen my father shed tears as a young boy. One day I was surprised to see that. A gentle enquiry revealed that one Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru had died and that he was the Prime Minister of India. It was in May 1964 and I was about 10 years old. The papers carried extensive photographs the next day with large crowds mourning the death of Pandit ji. I also vaguely remember discussions earlier about the Indo-China war with our boarding school notice board displaying the “McMohan line”. He was a cult figure those days with people like my dad revering him for his work during the freedom movement. I am sure they were also aware of the scandals surrounding Mr. Nehru but the perception that he was an intellectual known for his erudition and international standing perhaps overshadowed this downside. “Who after Nehru?” seemed to be the question on everyone’s lips. I don’t remember much about his era as the PM though.  

After a “night watchman” Mr. Gulzarilal Nanda’s short tenure, Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri became the PM, thanks to Mr. Kamaraj, the king maker, those days. What a stalwart Mr. Kamaraj was! I can only laugh at the pygmies who call themselves leaders in TN today, who do not command even a semblance of respect from the masses now! The diminutive Mr. Shastri was very popular those days belying his humble background and was a total contrast to the glamourous Pandit ji. I remember the 1965 war with Pakistan very well and Mr. Shastri’s slogan ”Jai Jawan Jai Kisan” reverberated throughout the country. I vividly recall that we skipped our dinner on Monday in our boarding school in response to the clarion call of beloved Shastri ji. Pakistan was given a sound thrashing and Shastri ji went to Tashkent in January 1966 to sign a peace agreement with General Ayub Khan never to return. His untimely death was an unfortunate moment in our history for Shastri ji impressed one and all during his short stint as a man known for his simplicity, practicality and one who would steer the nation with grit and integrity. Alas, it was not to be!

Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the petite I&B minister in Shastri ji’s cabinet was catapulted to the PM’s post after Shastri ji’s demise once again by Mr. Kamaraj ahead of Mr. Morarji Desai who was the more senior parliamentarian. In her first term from 67-71, Indira ji, courted controversy several times like supporting Mr. V V Giri ahead of Mr. Sanjiva Reddy , the official congress candidate for Presidency, split the congress after she was expelled, abolished privy purses and nationalised  private banks. These decisions had far reaching consequences on the history and progress of our country. After the glorious victory liberating Bangladesh in 1971, Mrs. Gandhi’s rule was marked by her declaration of emergency in defiance of Allahabad High Court orders invalidating her election. There was a virtual dictatorship in the country between 75 and 77. This was the time when I joined a Bank in Uttar Pradesh as a probationary officer! If UP was like what I saw during emergency, GOD help them in other times, was my feeling. Her son Sanjay Gandhi was ruling the roost with extra constitutional authority. Forced sterilisations and grazing unauthorized constructions through brute force were the order of the day. Those who are crying hoarse today that we are facing a fascist government and an authoritarian PM have not seen what emergency was, obviously. News was censored, and anyone with even a whimper of criticism was put behind bars. I remember seeing Tughlaq magazine with a black front page in protest. Most of the opposition, irrespective of age, were behind bars. A number of leaders were in hiding fearing imminent arrest. Elections were postponed and opposition ruled states were dismissed using Article 356. It was during the first tenure that the Nagarwala bank case became a talk of the town. Compared to today’s scam’s it was a pittance – only about 60 Lakhs!

In the meantime all opposition had come together under Sri. Jayaprakash Narayan. The Janata party was born with parties of all denominations being a part of it. In 1977, Mrs. Gandhi called for elections, presumably under the false impression that her popularity was intact – perhaps based on intelligence reports! Congress lost miserably and Janata party came to power. The next three years saw the coalition tamasha with Mr. Morarji Desai and Mr. Charan Singh taking positions of power as PM. While Mr. Morarji was a seasoned politician with extensive administrative experience, Mr. Charan Singh had no such credentials. There was an open lust for power with the result that the government collapsed under its own contradictions. This should definitely be a lesson for today’s youngsters if they think an alliance of parties without any ideological congruence can come together and provide a stable government!  

Mrs. Gandhi came back to power for the third term in 1980, thanks to the folly of Mr. Charan Singh who had her and her son Sanjay arrested. Such acts whip up frenzy in India and the result was a foregone conclusion. Mrs. Gandhi, during these years in power tried to meddle with the Akali politics in Punjab – supporting Bhindranwale initially and later he became a separatist fighting for Khalistan and took to arms. Mrs. Gandhi ordered operation “Blue Star” in which the army entered the Golden Temple complex and killed not only Bhindranwale but a number of innocent pilgrims besides damaging the Golden Temple Complex. Three months later, her own Sikh bodyguards assassinated her in her residence. This again was a tragic moment in our history. 

If I were to look at the prevailing political culture in this country and trace its roots, it would certainly point to Mrs. Gandhi. She was charismatic yet ruthless. She had her way. She brooked no opposition to her views. She roughshod over all institutions and threw away all conventions to the wind. It was during her time that the President’s office earned the ignominious nickname ‘Rubber Stamp’. Sycophancy was the norm and entire establishment was servile to her. She never allowed her regional heads to build a following of their own and ruthlessly decimated such persons if ever she felt that someone was remotely a threat to her. The coterie in Delhi started to build and the party was full of such sycophants who had no standing of their own. She is the mother of all present rhetoric and sloganeering that you see today – “Garibi Hatao” being her famous tagline. And not to be outdone, one of her sycophants had the temerity to coin the slogan “Indira is India and India is Indira!”

What followed her death was even more brutal and a blot on a country like India when thousands of Sikhs were murdered in broad daylight with the Delhi police twiddling their thumbs! It was one of the saddest days in my memory, for Sikhs are great people who have given only the best for this country. I have had many interactions with Sardars and they are the most helpful, hospitable and patriotic citizens you can see. During all these years, while I was not actively involved in politics, I always used to hear my father admonish and lambast Mrs. Gandhi almost on a daily basis! In  Mrs. Gandhi era, my father had slowly moved towards Rajaji’s Swatantra party and was a patron of their Swarajya magazine.  

If at all an opportunity presented itself to the Congress party to redeem itself and become a democratic one that they professed, that was the time. But alas, it was not to be. And we are now saddled with a dynastic party with that single decision. Buta Singh and President Zail Singh persuaded Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, Mrs. Gandhi’s son, to become the Prime minister. The seeds for a dynastic succession were thus sown. It may be argued that Mrs. Gandhi succeeded her father. But it must be remembered she was a minister in Shastri ji’s cabinet and was propelled to this role by Mr. Kamaraj and his friends! And Rajiv was not even in active politics being an airline pilot!

Rajiv, as a person was very suave, dignified and spoke well. He was liked by the masses and in his initial years, he appeared to be earnest in revamping the party and government. It was he who brought in a change of mindset relating to computers and telecommunication. In all fairness, he was the forerunner to what we acclaim as digital India today. People like me moved from traditional banking to IT, thanks to his policies. IT industry was reborn in India, so to speak, after IBM were all driven out of India during the Janata regime. He had his own pitfalls like decision on Shah Bano case which is talked about even today. However, what led to his downfall was the alleged bribery scandal in the Bofors and HDW deal. Ms. Chitra Subramanian of “The Hindu” – a paper which was highly respected then and people swore by its contents - exposed the money trail leading ultimately to the late Quattrochi. Mr. V P Singh, a minister and friend of Rajiv, resigned and was at the forefront of this agitation against the government. The slogan “Gali gali me Shor hai, Rajiv Gandhi chor hai!” could be heard all over India. Compared to today’s scandals, Bofors was a pittance though. In the 1989 elections that followed, Mr. V P Singh under the Janata Dal banner, despite being in minority, with outside support became the PM.

Mr. V P Singh’s tenure (89-90) was very short and less than a year. All that I remember of his tenure was his implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations leading to protests all over the country! He was a champion of social justice and had admirers in a number of opposition camps. That legacy continues to this day, especially in TN. This was also the time when Mr. L K Advani started his famous rath yatra and the Ram Janmabhoomi issue also came to the fore. BJP withdrew support to Mr. V P Singh leading to his downfall as he was against this stand of BJP. Mr. Chandrasekhar, who was also a part of the Janata Dal, formed his own party Samajwadi Janata party with a few of his followers. Though he was in minority, he became the PM with Congress support. However, in less than 6 months he had to resign in June 1991, after congress withdrew its support!

We had planned to visit Kanchipuram early morning the next day via Sriperumbudur in late May 1991. When we woke up the next day, we heard the tragic news of the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in Sriperumbudur while addressing an election meeting. This was in retaliation to his sending the IPKF – the Indian Peace keeping force – to Sri Lanka to support their army against the LTTE. The LTTE had planned and executed the assassination, as the later investigations revealed. This again was a turning point in our history for had he been alive, what would have transpired in the forthcoming elections was anyone’s guess. It was a tragic and untimely death.

With Rajiv’s death, the sympathy wave worked in favour of the Congress and they were the single largest party in Lok Sabha. Mr. P V Narasimha Rao was chosen as the PM of the country – a sort of first outside the Nehru-Gandhi family to rule for a full term of five years. This was perhaps a watershed moment in our history for he was the architect of liberalisation of our economy. He had a bureaucrat Dr. Manmohan Singh as his Finance Minister. He even appointed an opposition leader Mr. Subramaniam Swamy to a cabinet rank post in his ministry. He was erudite, a Sanskrit scholar and was fluent in 14-15 languages including French, Arabic, Spanish, German & Persian! One of the blots on his tenure was the demolition of Babri Masjid leading to animosity between communities which lasts till today. The dispute still persists with courts unable to decide on this contentious issue. The saddest part about Mr. Rao, was the ill treatment given to him by his own party after his death!  

  

In 1996, Congress lost its majority in Lok Sabha and BJP emerged as the single largest party with considerably less seats than the halfway mark. As per convention, the President invited BJP to form the government and Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee took oath as PM. However, he knew that he could not prove majority on the floor of the house and resigned after a couple of weeks. United front that was formed with coming together of non-BJP, non-congress parties staked a claim to form the Government. Mr. Deve Gowda was their choice of PM for about 11 months, followed by Mr. I K Gujral for about a year till March 1998. But this United Front Government could not survive for obvious reasons and fresh elections were held in 1998. The less we talk about this period, the better! 

In the 1998 elections, BJP was the single largest party but the NDA alliance had seats close the halfway mark. A NDA Govt was sworn in with Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the PM in mid-1998. However, AIADMK pulled out of the alliance leading to the defeat of the Government by one vote in mid-1999. During this short tenure, Mr. Vajpayee initiated the nuclear bomb blast, Lahore visit which was followed by the Kargil war! The aggressors were shown their place after an initial surprise. 

In the 1999 general elections that followed, NDA won a decisive victory and Mr. Vajpayee was sworn in as the PM for the third time and this time he had a full run of 5 years. It was during this tenure that India got a boost to Infrastructure like the golden quadrilateral etc., The tenure was also marked by some unsavoury incidents like the attack on Parliament by militants, the Gujarat riots, Kargil Coffin scandal etc. The performance of the Government from a common man’s perspective was fairly satisfactory and the slogan “India Shining” was doing the rounds! But in the 2004 General elections, the NDA could only muster 181 seats against the UPA which got 218 seats. The BJP and Congress got 138 and 145 seats respectively.

With the UPA being invited to form Government after much speculation and controversy, it was announced that the UPA chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi had graciously stepped down from the leadership position and nominated Mr. Manmohan Singh as the PM. Mr. Singh went on to win the 2009 elections as well and was the PM for 2 terms spanning 10 years called UPA-1 and UPA-2. They brought in reforms like introduction of Aadhar, NREGA, RTI act, civil nuclear agreement, right to education, reservation for OBC in institutes of higher learning like IIT etc., However, it was also marked by a number of scams like the 2G spectrum, CWG, Coal block allocation etc., His tenure was also marked by policy paralysis with accusations that decisions were being taken by a coterie of the Congress chief. The coalition partners did not make things easier for him as well. Hence despite being a learned economist, one who was perceived as clean, he was termed as an “accidental PM”. He was subservient to his Congress chief who was driving the country by proxy without any accountability. Obviously, in such a setup, a number of beneficiaries enjoyed the patronage of the ruling class, especially the Press and the likes in Lutyens Delhi. The only time Mr. Singh asserted himself was during the civil nuclear deal with US. When the communists threatened to withdraw support, Mr. Singh put them in their place and went ahead with the deal. Mr. Singh was a good man but was not a politician! His career as a bureaucrat was marked by some achievements in the field of economics and is held in high esteem even today. But, unfortunately as a politician and a leader, he was not someone who could inspire you. He once said that history will be kinder to him than media. It remains to be seen but personally I cannot fathom why he accepted the role of the PM despite knowing what is in store for him. I feel very sad for such a scholar and upright man.

Mr. Narendra Damodar Das Modi won the 2014 election convincingly based on the anti-incumbency, the alleged scams of the previous regime and on the development plank. What he has done or not done during the past 5 years is too recent to recount and perhaps each and everyone knows it in great detail. Instead, I will talk about the 2014 election itself. 

2014 was the first election when I was fully involved right from the word go – since announcement of elections. Perhaps I had lot of time on my hands since I had retired. The social media made following the happenings a lot easier and faster. There were constant debates in the 24 hour news channels with their ubiquitous “breaking news”. I felt that the print media’s relevance was gone. By seeing the author of an article, you could predict on whose side he /she was – it was all paid or one sided reporting and writing. Shamelessly they took sides and promoted a particular party. Gone were the days when as young students we used to look up to papers like “The Hindu” for authentic news. Columns by writers like G K Reddy were legendary and we read it just to improve our language skills. And talking of language, prior to the advent of TV, even reading about cricket in “The Hindu” by the likes of Jack Fingleton or Nirmal Shekar was a lesson in itself with a fair amount of literary quotes embellishing the articles!  Alas, those days are gone never to return!

Despite all this, I had a premonition that there might be a change in the political scene in the country. I read a lot about Mr. Modi, the growth of Gujarat, the Gujarat riots and how the establishment hounded him for over a decade, how he was portrayed as the “merchant of death” etc. In him I saw a great orator and a person who could motivate people. He appeared to be having a vision for the country and absolutely fearless. His family background was very humble and he did not have any personal agenda to come to power. The way he campaigned for the party across the length and breadth of the country was amazing. Perhaps, I saw for the first time someone of the stature of Mrs. Gandhi in our political landscape. He was a politician with all boxes ticked. The liberals hated him for he proudly wore his religion on his sleeve and perceived to be a "Hindutva" proponent. He gave a damn to the so called “media” who were hell bent on making disparaging comments about his development model and time and again bringing in the Gujarat riots though the SIT of the Supreme Court had absolved him of any wrongdoing. And honestly there was no single person of that stature who could be even compared to him even though he had no experience leading the country. His victory was momentous for the nation.

The 2019 elections will be fought on achievements of the Modi government. While the parties go about their campaign, there is no single opposition leader of the stature or track record of Mr. Modi to oppose him. The opposition has no vision or any meaningful manifesto. Their only agenda seems to be to defeat Mr. Modi! In a country like India it could still happen – like in 2004 when Vajpayee lost despite the feeling that India was shining. While I would still respect the verdict of the people, the loss will be ours as I don’t see anyone with a similar vision and capability as Mr. Modi on the horizon for now. In my personal view, among the pantheon of PM’s we have had, only Mrs. Gandhi, warts and all, and Mr. Modi are leaders in the true sense of the word.

From the above narration, you can also see what happened when coalition governments came to power in centre. It was utter disaster and it would be the same again should the smaller parties manage to win the numbers this time. It would be a travesty of justice for the millions of people in India who are looking up to leadership at the top for their wellbeing. Appeasement politics, giving doles are all outdated policies. Growth, development and improvement in the wellbeing of people, jobs are the only measures with which people will decide the performance of the Government.

The Indian voters are not stupid and am sure they will vote sensibly. But I also believe that elections are not fought on issues but on emotions. So any leader who captures the imagination of the people wins! And who else other than Mr. Modi at this point who has captured the imagination of the nation! This is the first time I am seeing ordinary citizens campaigning for a leader. That speaks for itself.

May 23^rd is the D-day. Anything can happen in an election, irrespective of what the opinion polls say. Till then, let us watch all the tamasha unfold. Vote for any candidate you think is the best, but vote you must. Jai Hind.