In less than 24 hours from now, we will know, for sure, who will form the next government at the Centre. The canvassing, as a run up to the elections, has been the most vitriolic I have ever witnessed in all of my adult life. The election discourse has been far from the promises on policies laid out in the party manifestos and more on personality tarnishing, at times not sparing even those who are long dead and not present to defend themselves. I do not know if I was the only one tired from the disappointment - may be the long drawn schedule, though unavoidable given that we are the largest democracy in the world, also played a part in contributing to the fatigue!
Politics isn’t a very clean game, which is why it keeps some of the best minds at bay. One candidate’s solution to the monkey menace in her constituency was to feed them fruits not ‘Frooti’ and biscuits; another candidate was clueless about some violence in her constituency because she wasn’t woken up in time with her bed-tea; one believes that a cloud cover cannot be penetrated by a RADAR and yet another is such a misogynist that he dreaded the time when women would get their (rightful) reservation in the Parliament…the list of inadequacies on the part of the candidates is endless.
Political parties choose candidates who are popular and can ensure the winning of a seat. As a consequence, the experience of the candidate in public service is overlooked. This dilutes the constitution of the House and the quality of debates that take place within the sacred walls of the Parliament. This time we will have to brace ourselves for quite a bit of drama, given the number of actors that have run the race; our Cabinet may well have a ‘Basanti’ as the Minister for Women and Child Development, or a ‘Govind’ as the Law Minister!
According to the principles of Parliamentary democracy, the party that wins the largest number of seats - the first-past-the-post system - elects their leader, who becomes the Prime Minister. The very act of projecting a candidate for the post of P.M. contradicts this fundamental tenant that defines our system of democracy. Worse still is seeking votes on the premise that they 'go into the account of the P.M. candidate’, undermining the the position of every candidate from the party.
An important factor in contributing towards the making of a healthy political space is the role of the opposition, a fact which cannot be overemphasised. The opposition parties had five long years to get their act together, put together their strategy and an efficient promotional and brand building exercise. In wasting away precious time in slumber, the opposition parties have failed in their responsibility and let the people down by not providing a strong and effective alternative to the voter.
For those of us who have been observing the transformation of the BJP, it is quite apparent that its form today is a far cry from that when it was led by Vajpayee-Advani-Joshi. Recently there was a post in a WhatsApp group, that I have no choice in not being a part of, that I took exception to since it seemed more like a communal propaganda message than anything to o with the affairs of the group. I was joined by a few others, but was saddened by the fact that while many chose to turn a blind eye to what lay on their phone-screens, a few actually countered me in support of the post. It made me realise that these were topics that had made their way into casual conversations among people, something that wasn’t the case a few years ago.
As citizens we must be wary not to become pawns in the game of politics and its associated propaganda. As a society, we must stand up to our duty of creating a safe and inclusive space for our peoples and as our elected representatives, the Parliamentarians and law makers, must play their part of upholding the letter and spirit of the Constitution of our Motherland.
It is said that we get the government that we deserve. I hope that we do not feel, in hindsight, that we deserved better. If we are disappointed by the quality of debates in the Parliament, we have only ourselves to blame - either since we abstained from exercising our right to vote or by voting in a candidate with credentials that fell way short of requirements. To quote John Greenleaf Whittier, “ For all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been’.”
[ The one very important factor in singing is ‘bhaava’, or expression. A musician has at her disposal many tools to highlight flavours of the 'rasa' and 'bhaava' to her rendition - the use of her voice in meandering through meends, aalaaps, nyasa, layakari, etc. while improvising on the raga. I have heard artistes who show exceptional technical prowess that prompts a gasp of wonder from a listener, but I love those whose rendition of a raga balances the technical and aesthetics so exquisitely that it gives me goosebumps! I recall attending a live concert of Smt. Arati Ankalekar at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore, a few years ago, where she simply held the audience spellbound by her performance- it was one of those occasions when I had goosebumps! ]
Raga Nand, by Smt. Vidushi Arati Ankalekar:
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