The rise of Radhe Maa and the young Hardik Patel as leaders, one the ‘spiritual’ kind and another the socio-political kind, are the most recent cases for the curious to examine the many questions that surround the making of a leader - who, what, when, where and how. Interestingly, this is also a much liked subject for many an Indian film!
When a section of society perceives itself as being at the receiving end of an unjust and unfair system, or, is faced with shortcomings created by an external environment, it leads to a degree of unrest at the social and individual level. The need for spiritual guidance of a different kind saw Radhe Maa attract a following in large numbers. Claiming to be an incarnation of Goddess Durga, she has been able to sway many people to the tunes of Bollywood music. Her’s is a spiritual journey of a unique kind, rife with it’s share of controversies, making the search for spiritual gratification more conceivable to and accepted by the common man; her spiritual journey does not traverse the many roads of intellectual and mental stimulation. It is this very down-to-Earth approach that has made her a spiritual leader of sorts and, on the side-lines, also a target for ridicule. But if she has been able to attract the attention of people, either as a fan following or as a fun-following, albeit through her eccentric ways, she has emerged as a leader.
Hardik Patel’s story is more fascinating in the way it has unfolded. One could easily find similarities between him and Arvind Kejriwal - both belong to middle class families, are educated and with a cause that tugs at the strings of an upwardly mobile and aspiring middle class. Hardik’s ‘ bette noire’ is the perpetually debated reservations system prevailing in our country. While the Constitution had directed this for a period of ten years post independence, governments in power at the time of a re-look at the system have shied away from repealing or even modifying it. The pandora’s box was opened when the V.P. Singh government accepted and implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. Since India’s politics is, still, largely caste based, no political party will be willing to address the issue head-on. But the social fabric has seen many changes in the years since; aspirations of the people have metamorphosed to adapt to the growing needs of a shrinking World and many believe that the need to examine the reservation system couldn’t be more emphasised. Hardik, too, carries his grouse against the current system and rose to being the right person at the right time.
While in the case of Radhe Maa, her devotees are the ones who fund her continuity, in Hardik’s case it is most certainly a larger political backing that has created the political ‘Frankenstein'!
If one looks at leaders from history, both political and spiritual, they have been persons who have been able to move large groups of people with their personality, not so much by their physical appearance or attributes, but more by their capacity to influence minds by their ability to speak. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Osho and Sri Sir Ravi Shanker, to mention a few, had/have this in them. There is no aggression in action but a strong purpose and resolve to their tone - people believe every word they utter. They don’t have to be loud or verbose - the little that they speak says volumes. And they carry in their voice a power that physical size can never match! Who can forget the power of Gandhi’s appeals to join the Swadeshi movement, Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, the effect of Martin Luther King’s dream as he shared it with a Nation or the many mesmerising talks of Osho?
When I watched a short interview of Radhe Maa on television, I found her quoting lines from the lyrics of Hindi film songs! Hardik, though often colloquial in his language, adds a punch to his speech by the use of effective similes.
Put all this together and package it with an irresistible aura to exude and a magnetic persona to tie together and you have a leader!
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