Captain Takes the Team to Finals

And the semi-finals threw up results along expected lines. Congress was decimated in all four states of the Indian heartland. The total rout is sure to shake the foundations of its weak government in the Centre to the core. It is once again clear that dynastic policies are no more relevant in India than some of the burning day-to-day issues. And Rahul Gandhi is not equal to the caliber of his grandmother or great-grandfather, though it may be comparable to his father!

A dangerous trend seen in Delhi is the phenomenal rise of the Aam Admi Party (AAP – Common Man’s Party). Formed barely a year ago, the party cornered 40% of the Assembly seats there, advocating the slogans of transparency and corruption-free polity. Both these concepts are worthy to be enshrined in a society, then why the rise of AAP is construed as dangerous? It seems that being a baby among political parties, AAP is not yet mature enough to chart out a pragmatic course of action. Corruption must be rooted out, but the party’s suggested modus operandi is childish. If you follow it, governance will grind to a halt as you can’t put all the officers under the cloud of suspicion. Also, its militant posture towards increase in commodity tariffs like power that is warranted for the sustainability of the power companies belies the party’s claim to be a responsible partner in the nation’s politics. And it is indeed lucky for them not to have won power this time. If such was the case, people would’ve immediately got disillusioned with them and thrown them out at the next available opportunity. Now that they are sitting in opposition, they may have a better longevity to have a go at the next election. It is easy to sit in opposition and blame the government for all troubles. The toughest thing is to rule and be accountable. Any society gets the government they deserve. Corruption is rampant in India only because people tolerated it since recorded history. Even now, the only grouse most people harbour against corrupt officials is that they themselves are not able to indulge in making some extra bucks. Ask any parent about his plans for their children, and the invariable answer is to make them government officials. What for? Isn’t it naïve to assume that these people strive to enter public service only to ‘diligently’ serve the people? So, in a country where parents are rearing their children to have a share of the booty, corruption is the natural thing. The attitude of the society need to change.

Many people go far too much away from the mainstream to deny Narendra Modi any credit in BJP’s spectacular win. The victory, according to them, rests with the state leadership of the party and not to Modi. Notwithstanding the stature of leaders like Shivrajsingh Chouhan, what kind of reasoning is this? Everybody understood and anticipated this contest to be the semi-final of the final match, which is the General Elections in 2014. Everyone was anxious about the impact Modi could obtain on the populace. The team made a brilliant victory and the critics say the captain had no role in it! Suppose the BJP had lost the elections, would these same critics have trumpeted from their rooftops that the Modi factor failed to take off? This Lose-Lose argument exposes the prejudice of these observers.

But Narendra Modi should not get carried away by the results. True, he had credited teamwork for the success, but should not lose sight of the fact that the finals are yet to come and it would take much stamina to reach all the way to the Lok Sabha. Nobody should overlook the realistic fact that the NDA has not much clout in the three states of Odisha, Seemandhra (when AP is divided) and Tamil Nadu. With a total of 91 seats among them (21 in Odisha, 31 in Seemandhra and 39 in TN) these states may decide who would rule from Delhi in 2014. And all the three states are so winnable for the NDA! Who would doubt that the Congress will be trounced in Seemandhra this time? They may sweep Telengana, but that’s only 11 seats! The BJP doesn’t have any partner in these states, even though the AIADMK, BJD and Telugu Desom may not be averse to have an understanding with them. Chandrababu Naidu may strike the pose of a principled leader who would have no truck with BJP, but having been out of power for more than a decade must have chastised his enthusiasm a bit. Jayalalitha would be friends with anyone who would oppose Karunanidhi. A little nudge may prompt Navin Patnaik to come back to the NDA. There is a very good chance for the BJP to ensure the support of up to 75 – 80 seats in these three states, if it plays its cards right. The party should not overlook this crucial aspect if it is to win the finals.

Non-Stop Till Full Stop

The life expectancy of an Indian had gone up – impressively – from 42 years in 1960 to 66 in 2011. This is a commendable achievement, coming within half a century. Many factors have contributed to this – education, better medical care, increase in level of hygiene, awareness of health issues, and most important of all, increase in the nation’s wealth. India’s per capita GDP leaped from $84 to $1159 over the same period, a rise of 13 times and that too, adjusted for inflation.

This simple statistic is not understood in its true perspective by a lot many people, even influential ones. Today’s average person is much more healthier, happier and prosperous than his grand father was, at his age. Alarmists cite a lot of cases trying to prove otherwise – atmospheric pollution, radiation from mobile phone towers (!), fast food, slow food contaminated with chemical pesticides, occupational hazards and increased incidence of fatal diseases like cancer, cardiac and neurotic cases. Of course, these monsters are with us, but haven’t we learned to live with them? Even with all these meddling issues, we are living longer than the previous generations who lived less, even without any of these modern debilities to trouble their way. Don’t forget even for a moment that most of the deadly illnesses afflict aged people and as the number of the aged rises, the absolute number of sick people definitely goes up, but as a percentage of the total population, they are far fewer than it was 50 years ago. Increased and early detection help to save many lives, even though it contributes to the number of patients shooting up.

This is the background. But do everyone need to faithfully follow every health advice to the letter? Say, you are a middle-aged man and a medical examination shows that you have a cardiac or diabetic complication. Naturally, you are condemned to alter your life style, diet, exercise habits, and the entire way of life. In short, you transform to another person in a vain bid to prolong your life expectancy from say, 66 to 71. What is this really worth? When you change one of your ingrained habits like the diet, the ‘you’ inside you have died at that moment and a totally new person is the one trying to live out a few more years, ready to accept any compromise. Isn’t it better to continue as before, and live life to the full – in your own way – and perhaps surrender to the inevitable when it comes?

Our lives are ruled by a combination of chance and our ability to take risks. The process of birth itself is the result of pure chance alone. We, or at least the brain cells dictating these lines, could have originated in one of the lawless states in the under-privileged part of the world and died an early death fighting enemies or diseases. Or, we could have chosen a riskier profession, like the military, where the life expectancy is shorter than the general population. Any of these factors could’ve cut back our life span, so why fret over a disease that threatens a few years at the fag end of life?

Be yourselves and face the situation with courage.

Or, shall we say, non-stop till full stop?