Personality cult-a Congress creation and a warning to BJP

 

The current crisis in congress party, where they are not able to look beyond the Gandhi Parivar to revive the sinking fortunes of a 150-year-old party is the result of last 70 years of gradual surrender of their ideological and democratic character to become a personality driven party. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru can be squarely blamed for fostering a personality cult around him which gave birth to a narrative penned and propagated by an army of court jesters who built a visionary persona for him and lived off it.

Mrs. Indira Gandhi ruthlessly capitalized on it, in fact during her time, “India is Indira” and “Indira is India”, was coined, sadly all the democratic process in the party were muzzled, opposition eliminated to the extent it became Congress(I) and the era of divide and rule, coterie & high command culture took its root, which is the only game Sonia Gandhi learnt to survive and remain leader for last two decades.

The result is very obvious, today they do not have a single leader to take over the mantle of congress, their two generations have just been subservient and loyalists, not to mention corruption mired rather than character-based party workers. They still root for the failed charisma and aura of Gandhi family to cling to their positions and usurp power rather see the daylight to transform and rebuild the party.

The irony is that none of the current three Gandhi’s have either a strong character or the so-called big following in the country. They are scripts without any content, glorified personalities without any ethical character, as a matter of fact the tried and failed heir apparent is already a laughingstock. Not to mention all three have cases of corruption, fraud and quid pro quo against them.

Congress and most of the Indian political parties thrived on this personality cult and over the years translated into a dynastic submission. Instead of building a party cadre on the works and ethics of Tilak, Gokhale, Subhash Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel, Dr. Rajendra prasad, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Narasimha Rao  they propagated the sacrifices and  contributions of only Nehru-Gandhi equation which resulted in sycophancy and subservience rather than ownership and responsibility for a cause.

As a quick fix, it suits any political party to create a personality cult around their leader to ensure a following to help them in their pursuit to remain in power with their loyalty. Most of the Indians also over centuries have been hero worshippers and always look for a Hero to fulfil their own aspirations and    relief from any sufferings. This weakness is fully exploited by all the political parties to remain in power rather than serve the nation earnestly.

The current dispensation in power BJP, came to power proclaiming itself as a party with a difference with a development plank for all. Their resounding victory in 2019 elections consolidated their position. Their approach of Nation first is laudable, cultivation of character-based party workers, creation of growth opportunities within the party to develop future leaders is the way forward.

BJP need to be on guard and check on the Modi-cult to ensure that they do not go the congress way. They benefit from the backing of RSS, which works solely on developing a character-based cadre who are committed and devoted to the nation building and then loans them to BJP. This is a continuous process desired for a sustainable growth of the any political party and the nation it serves. A good institution breeds leaders with character while a personality cult destroys the institution itself.

Party above “I” and Nation above party is the Mantra. One Parivar understands, the other does not.

Satish Shitut

Jai Bharat

Exemplary M.S.D. (Captain Cool)

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni who let the sun set on 14^th August at 1929 hours, to retire from international cricket, shall definitely leave many cricketers and his avid followers disheartened but shall also leave a strong legacy behind for almost all the youngsters of India, to emulate and grow in their lives, regardless of any career or sport, they feel like pursuing, to be effective in their own lives.

A small town boy from Jharkhand, coming from a lower middle class family, dreams of playing cricket for India, leaves his paltry job of a ticket collector in the city, focuses on playing cricket, rises from a local cricket sixes player to a Captain of Indian cricket team and plays international cricket for 16 long years in all formats, where he dominates, endears, conquers and finally renounces with a run out.

His story is a perfect example of “Make your own dreams come true”. In his journey of the life so far, both on and off the field , he was never bogged down, by any situation or circumstance but ensured that he persevered coolly what he believed in, carried the responsibilities, on his shoulders nonchalantly, to succeed in any given situation, no wonder that he was revered to as a  “Captain Cool”

His life story, exemplary exploits on the field, his behavior on and off the field, his contributions to the game and his teammates, his relationships with the administrators and the competitors alike, his love for his family, friends and his fans shall now become a folklore with a tag or “God of Cricket”.

He may have renounced from International cricket but will be serving our country in many ways, is rest assured. He is  already an honorary Lieutenant Colonel  in the Indian army for the services he does for love for his country and the servicemen, we will not be surprised when we shall see him devoting more time for our Defense Services  as a “True son of our country”.

There shall by many statistical details on his glorious cricketing career which you either know or shall read and remember but for any youngster in any part of the world, the key takeaways from him are-:

Everything happens twice, once in dreams and then in reality, so think big and persevere till the end. The process is continuous and lifelong on the lines of sow a thought, reap an action, sow an action reap a habit, sow a habit reap a character, sow a character and reap a destiny.

Be a child in your heart so that you are always curious to learn, fearless and courageous in your actions, laugh at any failure, be happy and move on, as each failure is always a step towards the success lurking just next door, each given situation is an opportunity to learn from and gain from the same thus be cool and be always determined.

Be aware of your abilities and have the self-belief to act with a strong resolve to work hard on various aspects of skills, knowledge, understanding and social behavior to become a self-respecting person first and then selfless to help people around you and build a team to lead them by example. This journey from self-respect to selflessness in the life is a hallmark of any successful person, in any field.

His fundamental principles in his life, which he applied in all aspects of his life starting with self, family, friends, game, fans, teammates, competitors, his country and the countrymen of Respect, Understanding and Love shall always stand him good as “What goes around always comes back”

His rise from a small-town boy to a poster boy to a “God of Cricket” is a perfect example for others to follow these principles of natural laws and “evolve” in their lives, too.

Satish Shitut

Jai Bharat

 

P.M. a True Pradhan-Sevak (Chief Servant)

The Bhoomi-Pooja (worshipping of five elements of nature and a ritual devoted to earth) before beginning the Shree Ram temple construction, to remove the negativities and impurities at the hands of P.M. Modi, is not a coincidence but looks like an act of god, because Mr. Modi had declared himself in 2014 itself that he is a Pradhan Sevak and not a Pradhan Mantri.

The legend goes that When Lord Shree Ram immersed himself in Sharayu river in Ayodhya to return to his abode, Lord Hanuman his (Bhakt) chief servant also wanted to go with him but Lord Shree Ram told him that he will have to remain on earth till the kalyug(era of downfall of spiritualism) and perform his duties to fight for truth against evil and wrongdoings.

Ramayan the epic is a gripping story of victory of good over evil, love, compassion, relationships and social behavior of all stakeholders, the conversations at crucial junctures of decision making are value based, philosophical and keeping in tune with Dharma( natural laws of right behavior and social order).The temple symbolically represents and reminds us of those virtues & our great civilization.

Lord Shree Ram “The Maryada Purushottam”(a perfect man-symbol of many virtues) who always stood for Dharma and truth, established his kingdom, “Ram Rajya”, a society based on Righteous principles of morality, justice and equality as an ideal form of good governance in the interest and wellbeing of his Praia(people) the central character.

 In fact Mahatma Gandhi’s dream at the time of the independence was also to have “Ram Rajya” in India, even our constitution is framed based on those ideals, but the ideals were lost during the course  of misrule and time has come for the people of this country to unite and fight, and once again free our country from the clutches of corruption, illiteracy, poverty, injustice, and other evils—the anti-people creations of our own fellow countrymen.

Service is simply an action of doing something to help someone, In Christianity it is an act of doing work for showing GOD's love to others with a willing heart, In Islam it means giving preference to others over yourself and considering their happiness and welfare before your own, In Sikhism, apart from other services(Karseva)as we all know, it means serving the wisdom (Gyan) ,i.e. to cultivate the service as a state of mind and then act unconditionally.

Seva in Sanskrit means a selfless service which is an outcome of seva-Bhav i.e. an inner feeling (Bhav) born out of love and the act borne out of this feeling is Seva, it is considered the most important part of spiritual practice to serve others with no expectation of outcome. Mr. Modi being honest with no materialistic attachments has been serving selflessly & relentlessly since 2014, working 16 hours a day, 365 days to serve the nation and all the people of India.

We may differ on his policies, politics and gaps in walk and talk but must give due credit to his Sevabhav and the ideals which do reflect in most of his policies to reach the last man in line(Antyodaya), unite all with  “sabka saath-sabka vikas-sabka vishwas”, remove corruption towards making a New India which is spiritual and the belief in oneness of the world at large (Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam)

Thus, a person who achieved wisdom through spiritualism and experience, who is selflessly serving the nation with total dedication(Tan-Man-Dhan), who believes in the Ideals of Lord Shree Ram and has vowed to usher in Ram Rajya(an ideal form of governance and society) deserves to be our Pradhan Sevak to perform this ritual and usher in the “Ram Rajya”. Guess, the right man for the right job at the right time for this temple (Symbol of all virtues and our rich heritage)

Satish Shitut

Jai Bharat