LEAD BY LIGHT, NOT BY SELF

LEAD BY LIGHT, NOT BY SELF 

Leaders wear clothes that are too expensive to inspire respect for them as the friend of the commoner. Also, public money must be more judiciously spent. It is not their personal property that they can spend it as they wish and in whatsoever measure that they wish. 

Leaders often rise from the ranks of the commoner but on assuming office forget their humble roots. They start behaving like Bādshāhs, thinking India to be their dominion and the public exchequer their personal bank which they can dispose at will. Arrogance has its limits and they are routinely routed in elections to give them their reality check. Unfortunately, one set of evil is replaced by another set and the vicious cycle of exploitation of the people continues.

The next aspect is that of truthfulness. A leader, however popular and by carefully crafted propaganda however big, promises far more than he can deliver. The result is failed expectations of the public in the end. A leader should first deliver, then talk. Nowadays off course it is ever the reverse.

Next we turn to character. Can one who delivers public speeches at different places across the country almost every other day, donning local dresses or headgear at least to mock-identify with the locals, speaking a couple of introductory phrases in the local language and then getting to routine delivery of hackneyed speeches, inspire confidence in the people, leave aside inspire them unto inspired living and action? Swami Vivekananda had said that 'in old age people become lying masks of men'. He was spot on. We are witnessing the veracity of this statement everyday as the topmost leaders, those with the highest orchestrated mass following, appear in expensive apparel before the public and deliver lacklustre speeches that are hollow and utterly devoid of character. What is needed is character in a leader but, alas, whither character?

Hence, retire or return to roots. But if age fails you, let fresh blood come in. Seasons change to keep the atmosphere fresh. May leaders likewise change too to keep the polity fresh. 

Vande Mātaram! 🕉 Hindu!

Written by Sugata Bose