Years ago when I was ten, back in Belgaum, a group of men visited my house. They had a young handsome dashing man among them. They spoke to my mother. “Madam, please vote for him in the coming Muncipality elections. He is young blood and will surely bring a change”. After they had gone, my mom also said the same thing. “Oh he should win, he is young and new blood”. …I gave a thought to it, forgot it in humdrum of my ten year old life.
I grew up. In school, college and University. And politics followed me everywhere. In school, in college and in the university. The young blood and its ways of politics were rather visible. The school cabinet with the prime minister (elected). The Senate Elections in the college. The Student’s Union elections at the university. Two things ran common in these different age based spaces: young blood and culture of politics. And They in no way were ever different from the politics that we condemn- favouritism, red tapism, crime, corruption, mudslinging, violence, money etc etc.
The school Prime Minister who was elected couldn’t give a speech but was elected anyhow. The senate candidates sent a car to fetch the voters and faithfully asked, “would you like to have something cold …..and hard?” A very liberal university put forth its list of central panel candidates out for Students Union elections. At last I thought wow what an idealism is it, far away from the political pollution of the country. Egalitarian to its core! Alas, the insiders spoke and I heard…“They have no Bhumihar, Oh that is a weak panel”, “have a girl, a beautiful one, the party shall win all the four positions”, “We have a Manipuri guy, he will bring in all the Chinki (a derogatory word used for people of the North East ) votes! “Muslim and a Girl? She is the winning candidate” I was shocked to see the underlying principle on which the central panels of all the parties were formed. They spoke of casteless society even as they made caste their engineering tool for the election. They spoke of crime free campus even as they made deals in the dark for cross voting in exchange of dropping the charges against a member once the new president was in place, They spoke of unity yet designed their selves on religious divide. They spoke of intellectual debates even as used sex and beauty as a Power!
Young India Churning their new blood for serving the people of the country in near future!
This year as elections soon arrive, as they do every five years, we have a panel of hot and new blooded young men and women (with education and dreams that "oldies dont have") that the media highlights and the country looks forward to. Yet election after election, these Men and Women disappear, their Hot Blood cools, their New Blood gets Old and they too form a part of the crowd that we love to despise! With Rahul Gandhi and Varun Gandhi and many others on this wagon (of Age and education) in this elections again the whole business of Young India, New India has come back.
But are such phrases mere Euphemisms? I am afraid, I feel so.
We euphemise and euphemise it with new phrases every time. But what happens to them? The promises they hold? The expectations they (or we) create?
Many politicians start young but instead of innovations and inventions, they slip and are swallowed by the monstrous system. Or they are the products of the system itself. Or many a times they feed themselves to it in order to rise ……Varun Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and others are no different. They have their ideologies that are embedded in a larger tree whose roots have spread beyond traces.
Season after season we can get new flowers, no doubt. Yet one should not forget they belong to the same tree.....they are New flowers with same smell, same petals and same colour...
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4 comments:
Well written, espeially the latter half of the third paragraph; and obviously the last part is the best, indeed new flowers on same old trees.
I am more optimistic. This analogy with a tree is good but not allowing the thoughts to evolve beyond a point. The basic concept is everything belong to the system and it changes very slowly. People and issues in politics are mere reflection of what most of us are in real life. Changing India is showing its symptoms in various ways. Look around and you will feel that things are changing slowly either its telcom ,software revolution, having the biggest consumer base, changing economy, space/defence/atomic research or our literature, cinema, sports. The change is fast in few areas and slow in others. Reflection of all this will be slowest in politics as it is dominated by not so good people of the society. But it will be there. My Indian team can be an analogy. We were quite defensive in nineties not good as a team but having biggest cricket icon Sachin in team. I can associate it with current political scenario where very few good people are there. Then came Dravid, Sehwaag and Ganguly and things started to change. We were still not a good team but with many good players still a bit defensive as a team. Ganguly brought little bit of aggression to this team and we were more confident with the new blood in the form of Gambheer, dhoni yuvraaz, zaheer. Check out the current scenario we are among the best as team, it doesn't make big difference if Sachin does not play. This whole transformation took around twenty years to happen and i am hoping similar kind of transformation in Indian politics. As in cricket youth saw defensive, low on self confidence Indian players/team, hated it and brought the change. Similarly current youth is hating a lot of caste/creed based society dividing issues. This youth is much more mature then earlier EMOTIONAL Indian voter. The transformation is just beginning wait for another twenty odd years and you will see the emergence of a new India and a new political system which will cater the issue important to us not to our ancestors.
Indeed it's an interesting post...and yes, i liked it.....
Fisrtly, who are these New and young Bloods? and secondly, how did they climb the ladder? Evedently, these new bloods are from the families with along and successful history in politics.That means, they are alreday versed with 'the language' of politics. Secondly,as they are from the same background, they have also adopted the same path taken by their 'Gurus' to climb the ladder. How many in India ,from the grassroots, have been able to make to the platform? Those who could/can/will are/were/will be/ing coopted or rejected by the system (or they came to be coopted). But, still there is hope....hope for a better future...the only driving force of life...Otherwise, it seems, you can't live....
I feel the same about the politics and related cook... at this juncture of life. But in compulsion we do lot of things and politics is best example. I remember, you contested once for a party which I literally hate because, I believe this political party did nothing for the development of the nation rather it extended the same colonial rule where half of the population is still poor and millions of them are at verge of starvation.
But still, I remember, I was your sole campaigner for the post.
I feel, after eight year of my encounter with politics, It is bargaining and betting! system remain the same... whoever comes does the same. we utmost can do is, to watch.. or to disagree or to ally. but certainly we can't change a bit of it.
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