I read somewhere that the main difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician doesn't think beyond his tenure, but a statesman looks beyond himself into the future to create a vision for the society. I suppose the statesman style thinking is what spurred the whole nation in our freedom struggle. I have always read about the struggle and felt at awe of the people who could let go of personal comfort and fight for a cause with such passion that losing their life to it was but a small sacrifice. The fervor was to win our independence or die trying and this was not restricted to the people who were the leaders and spearheaded the movement but was embraced and practiced by thousands of others who didn’t even make the headlines, who died anonymous and haven't ever been mentioned in our history books. I believe the fervor was brought about by the leaders who practiced what they preached. A set of leaders that the mass could look up to and believe in delivering what they promised.
Cut to the current era and I wonder what went wrong down the line. I look at the politicians now and see apathy and greed. I see them trying very hard to hold on to their positions, as a position means moolah raked and other personal gains. What happened to idealism, what happened to patriotism, what happened to putting the nation first? Yes, I am cynical about the current political scenario where nepotism breeds and the aspirants for the leadership role have only their well-being in mind. Given the scenario, it isn’t a surprise that corruption rules.
But what got me to write this article was a dispassionate speech given by a 26 year old wannabe politician, who worships the ground Rahul Gandhi walks on. According to him the right approach will be to involve socially inclined individuals in the corporate world into politics. This stems from the profound statement made by Rahul Gandhi that politics is not a profession. Disillusioned as I am with all politicians and the lack of leaders that I can look up to in our political system, I am probably a good representative of the common man (woman in my case) to plead the case with. My first objection would be that why would I want to reduce the impact of the good that I do to the society by calling myself a politician? The mental picture of a politician is dirty and calling myself one is derogatory. Secondly, if I do in all my zeal and idealism decide to join politics for the good of the people, will the old guard accept it? The power to make or break will always lie with the children of former politician, given nepotism that has become a part and parcel of our political scenario. Thirdly, if my work is going to detrimental to those in power, I know I will not be able to survive the wrath. Our politicians are masters in the game using people’ fears to their advantage and like all human being I am no beyond fear. So can a common man (woman) like me make a difference in a system that has taken 60 years to make? Or is it that my friend is walking down the same path of disillusionment that I walked when I was his age? Only time will tell and I would require more than a dispassionate speech to expect a different ending.
PS: Currently the youth menioned is a member of BJP and is as enthusiastic about the BJP philosophy as he was about the Congress. Looks like my cynicism in him was well-placed.
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