Saturday, November 17, 2007

Indian Politics and its Pseudo Dynamism

When the British parliamentary system was launched in India, everyone thought that alike the former rulers we might have the sophisticated ‘House of commons’ and ‘House of lords’. But since India is famous for its great elephant walk i.e. doing every thing in its own style. We not only had loud-chirpy rajya sabhas and lokh sabhas but also had the political saga written in its own Rajneetik style.

India is said to be diverse in every aspect; be it its dignified foreign policies or our very own cultures and religions. A unique example of this historical diversity is the revolutionary freedom fight in which some preferred literally attacking the antagonists of the story, whereas others were led by non-violence. With such historical and geographical diversity, India had to be strategically and politically diverse as well.

The Indian politics, characterized by ‘democracy’, generated its own political concepts moving away from the usual diplomatic science. If the western have the Democrats and the Republican, India has its very own SANHGHS and PARIWARS, who not only influence the central government planning but also go on to write history in the form of riots.

In the post - independence era, the Regional parties have sowed more seeds of discriminations than what racism and caste system could ever do in the pre -independence period. Regional parties in the form of the Senas and Janta parties are kind of underworld dons in their own constituencies. Their major contribution to the great ‘tamasha’ has been the induction of the ‘Bandhs’. Bandhs, ironically, are enjoyed by many as they are like some ‘unofficial surprise holidays’ as the supreme court has declared them illegal.

The new trend, which has hit the Indian political scene, is the ‘Coalitions Governments’. Last time these parties agreed on something was while forming the majority. The seemingly eternal fight between the ruling parties and the Lefts reminds us of the famous conflict between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B R Ambedkar.

From poets to Cambridge returns, corporate workers to criminals, filmstars to sportsmen and doctorates to school drop outs; India has had its leaders coming from every section of it. Unfortunately, only a few managed to make a difference. And of course not forgetting the important ‘C’ in politics lately, ‘corruption to politics’ is like ‘terrorism to humanity’ – Simply destructing.

A long ago, when our politics was spotted at its vulpine best; we had the epic, ‘Mahabharata’ written. ‘Shakuni’ and ‘Krishna’ both played tricks to make things work their way; though we know that there was only one ‘God’.

We may be 20000+ in Sensex or having jumping GDPs every year or our smart brains may be all set to dominate the worldwide software industry; but in governance, we still need another tryst with Destiny.



- Mamta Pandya
mamtapandya007@gmail.com

7 comments:

Amol Redij said...

Hi Mamta,

Interesting read! And good to see that you could add so many flavors to a point of view. However, its a little confusing to understand what you eventually want to arrive at. The dynamism that you highlight in your article probably has nothing to do with a particular country/region. It all depends on human perception and what actually builds up a nation are people with different ideas and opinions. And conflict or the so called pseudo dynamism exists everywhere, all that matters is your exposure to those things. Also, agreed that our society breeds in a corrupt and ill environment but all we can do is write. Nothing concrete comes from anybody. I hope you dont take my comment personally. I would have appreciated an article that puts across problems but also channelises the readers in a direction where staying in this country becomes lucrative.

Keep writing...

Cheers!

Anonymous said...

Jumping from the uniqueness of our country to its diversity, I kinda lost track of what u were trying to drive at! But all in all, it made for a very nice read.. I love the way u've written it, especially the use of "rajneetik" style n all.. very appealing! Well conveyed!

Anonymous said...

A dilettante's view, I may call it as. Some thoughts are appealing but not a suitable read, especially in a magazine that talks about 'Quality'.

Anonymous said...

As I have already told you, the article jumped from one topic to another and then back again..And though you had a lot to say, it was a bit difficult to follow the flow of your article..I know you are capable of more..I have heard you talking about Politics quite passionately..Sometimes it is this passion of writers with a particular subject that proves detrimental perhaps..THey have too much to speak about but at the same time they are constrained for space!
Nonetheless I am quite sure that you will come up with something really good on the same topic if you want to! Just keep your thoughts focused on the flow!
Cheers!

Janvi Gandhi said...

No clarity of thought but to be fair, if read with a microscope - it does bring out many important points, shifting back and forth from past to present and future..

Samir Bellare said...

The ending could have been better Maya. Well a very poppular topic to read and write about. Good read for a layman. Like me.

speedaholic said...

Nice write up.Point taken.The Britishers chose to divide and rule.The current politicians have an easier job at hand.We're already divided.They just have to rule. Rule and not administer.The Americans/English are known for having more divorces than marriages. We follow the trend but in a different field.Coalitions and then breaking them to join/make another party.You would die of suffocation if you're a politician and you're not corrupt.Thats like absence of oxygen in their blood.