It has been a while I blogged and a greater crime is that I took over 10 years to finally watch the Lord of The Rings Trilogy and recently the 2 Hobbitt sequels. So only folks who had read the books or watched the movies might enjoy this post.
It is an interesting world of Middle Earth which has Orcs, Wizards, Trolls, Elves, Dwarfs who are much more capable, political and even have the ambition to rule Middle Earth, yet to overcome the Evil, its the hobbits who come forth to take the burden, a race of 4 ft tall beings who never want to venture out their comfortable town of Shire.
The Aam Aadmi or the Indian middle class are much like Hobbits, very content and self centered around their own life, eking out a simple living and hardly wanting to step out of the comfort zone and not involve themselves in politics and civil life. They did rather bribe a police man or govt. official than take a stand, forget about standing for elections, even voting was a luxury for this folk.
What changed all this, the rampant corruption and apathy of governments finally led to a breaking point, where Arvind Kejriwal & team ( i admit I was a skeptic) decided to take the plunge into electoral politics and actually won power in the very first time a party was formed. off course we can debate till the cows come home whether Arvind and team are any different from BJP and Congress but for that we need to give them time.
Coming back to Middle Earth analogy, although the Hobbits were creatures who punched much above their weight, they also had to bear the cross of "One Ring" which was evil and was always looking for every opportunity to lead him astray.
The post of Chief Minister is such a double edged sword - it offers power to Arvind and Team to make a difference or fall prey to power and perks to become just like politicians before them. I truly believe in the race to get power, the older political parties have become like "Gollum" obsessed with power and not really remember why they joined politics at all.
This Delhi govt led by AAP will be a true test if politics in 21st century can take a turn for good or bad, but kudos to the middle class in Delhi who opted for a change and gave a fledgling party a chance to rule. The next 6 months before 2014 general elections will determine if this movement is a fire or mere flame based on their performance.
As JRR Tolkien wisely said it is foolish to expect one man can change the nation, may it be Modi, Rahul or Kejriwal it has to be the collective actions of the common folk each and every citizen to make a difference.
Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay - Gandalf ( The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
It is an interesting world of Middle Earth which has Orcs, Wizards, Trolls, Elves, Dwarfs who are much more capable, political and even have the ambition to rule Middle Earth, yet to overcome the Evil, its the hobbits who come forth to take the burden, a race of 4 ft tall beings who never want to venture out their comfortable town of Shire.
The Aam Aadmi or the Indian middle class are much like Hobbits, very content and self centered around their own life, eking out a simple living and hardly wanting to step out of the comfort zone and not involve themselves in politics and civil life. They did rather bribe a police man or govt. official than take a stand, forget about standing for elections, even voting was a luxury for this folk.
What changed all this, the rampant corruption and apathy of governments finally led to a breaking point, where Arvind Kejriwal & team ( i admit I was a skeptic) decided to take the plunge into electoral politics and actually won power in the very first time a party was formed. off course we can debate till the cows come home whether Arvind and team are any different from BJP and Congress but for that we need to give them time.
Coming back to Middle Earth analogy, although the Hobbits were creatures who punched much above their weight, they also had to bear the cross of "One Ring" which was evil and was always looking for every opportunity to lead him astray.
The post of Chief Minister is such a double edged sword - it offers power to Arvind and Team to make a difference or fall prey to power and perks to become just like politicians before them. I truly believe in the race to get power, the older political parties have become like "Gollum" obsessed with power and not really remember why they joined politics at all.
This Delhi govt led by AAP will be a true test if politics in 21st century can take a turn for good or bad, but kudos to the middle class in Delhi who opted for a change and gave a fledgling party a chance to rule. The next 6 months before 2014 general elections will determine if this movement is a fire or mere flame based on their performance.
As JRR Tolkien wisely said it is foolish to expect one man can change the nation, may it be Modi, Rahul or Kejriwal it has to be the collective actions of the common folk each and every citizen to make a difference.
Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay - Gandalf ( The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey)
Good start! Waiting for more such this year.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comparison! Time will show what AAP will do.
While it is nice to set expectations, the conspiracy theorist in me says far too many things.
ReplyDelete1. Why was cong publicity so meek in Delhi polls that gave AAP the edge to be fierce? Many say complacency, but any decent politician would have guessed the outcome of high pitched AAP promises.
2. AAP eventually took Cong support
3. As of now, both media and AAP have been talking about corruption among low and mid level government officers, who, we all know, remain only pawns. No one seems to talk about previous cong ministers
4. AAP achieved what cong themselves couldn't - smash the MODI wave over internet / media
5. The latest vandalism on a AAP office evoked anti-BJP statements from AAP, which smacks of cong pattern
6. AAP has been building anti-industry, pro-poor, near-socialist mindset / manifesto - not very different from cong. Not that it is right or wrong but the similarities are striking.
7. AAP member (Yadav) started talking of reservations - only few days into power - almost reminiscent of what cong did 10 years ago.
8. Kejriwal's repeated talk about his dislike for red becons, VIP culture, etc is similar to RG's speeches / stunts.
9. Kejriwal himself twists the words he uses before eating them back. Sounds immature - very much like RG !
10. AAP pulled off a win in less than a year after formation - anti-incumbency or fed up voters or veiled support from cong... nobody knows for sure
Is AAP a different face of congress, which will eventually co-form govt at centre just to keep Modi away?
In politics, a lot of people mimic others; too many people re-use manifestos [not just words], etc but when these match so frequently and eerily, it feels the theory holds water.
Disclaimer: I am no Modi fan and this is not a troll... But just expressed my views
Dear Anon - Thank you so much for stopping by at this blog and sharing your point of view.
DeleteI really appreciate your structured way of looking at an alternative view - Did Congress prop up AAP, my answer would be no, its missteps taken by them which led Anna and Kejriwal get so much mindspace.
now considering the Congress is on a back foot, they will use all means to deny BJP a victory - its defensive strategy or scorched earth policy, AAP becomes a tool in their hands
AAP has its problems getting torn in various directions, no matter whose fan you are .... 2014 elections will be exciting
I am no Anon - I am KC :) !
DeleteAAP got votes due to lack of cong efforts but when polls neared, I hypothesize AAP got veiled support from cong
Dost you should have signed off in the comment or logged in.
DeleteAnyway thanks for your comments
Now that AAP has gone away from Delhi govt, it brings us the key questions:
ReplyDeleteAAP was voted in to bring change from within the system. By resigning over an important issue, AAP showed its revolting nature but did they fight well for the "right thing"? Sure they did a little, but was that enough?
In the past, revolting "leaders" used to put up fight for decades without getting a chance to get into the system. People gave AAP the mandate to clean up the system no matter how hard it was, but they squandered it and how.
This gave traditional parties to line up tirades and possibly, a template for LS election campaigns. Why would AAP give up Delhi governance within weeks away from LS election announcement?
remarkable CK, its just been a month or say 49 days for the new political experiment to go kaput.
Deletei agree this is a cop-out, sensational approach only to maximize gains in 2014 general elections, I am sure this will come back to bite them
Am sure BJP is smiling, as more voters who are anti-congress might consolidate in their favor