India Shining : Are we or Are we Not

It is impossible not to see the irony.

In an election some seven years back, there was an electoral upset.

All that the ruling party said was “India is shining”

Is there anything wrong in feeling good about our country making rapid strides in economy and political arena?

Or should one be more appreciated for saying “India is hazy” or anything like that.

So what happened?

To be fair to competitors, they may have a point or two.

One could say that China has done better. Or Mumbai is yet not like Shanghai or London. We have missed opportunities, squandered resources, sustained many white elephants, but have still made appreciable progress.   

So what did the new government offer in return to that reasonably good performance by the previous government?

Did they say they will do better than the incumbents?  No.

Did they say they will bring in new policies and practices?  No.

Did they say they will get rid of white elephants or other political peccadilloes?  No.

Did they swear off their earlier mistakes?  No.

Did they specify their targets?  No.

So what did they say?

They said that it is wrong to say “India Shining”

It is wrong to say “We have done well”

They said there is something wrong that incumbents are hiding.

And we believed.

Looking backwards, was not India shining?

Are we not better off today because of the start the incumbents gave India ten years back.

May be.  May be not.

We have no way of finding out. We have no system to measure or calibrate performance. It is a matter of who carries the rhetoric on a particular day.

As far as I am concerned, the two governments are more or less alike, plus or minus some nuances. One party gets carried away by loyalty to culture and the other by loyalty to a dynasty. One party has a special feeling for traders and the other to sugar lobby. One party tries to cultivate one religion, the other cultivates another. Both are lukewarm to real administrative reforms or reducing unnecessary government spending. Both have entrenched politicians who have a lot of stake in status quo. All are risk averse and would always put parochial interests before the national imperatives.

So not much of a choice we made. And we have no clue on what basis we made that choice.

Will we graduate to a stage when we can really elect/appoint our leaders on the basis of measured capability?  Are we, the majority of Indian public, capable of developing the collective wisdom that is the cornerstone of democracy?

The test that we have graduated to that level is will be,

1. When real issues get discussed rather than divisive issues
2. Our leaders talk more of future than of past.
3. Our leaders are ready to say sorry for wrongs of the past
4. Our leaders are less obese and the populace less emaciated.
5. Our leaders learn to appreciate and criticize constructively rather than running each other down.
6. WE CAN DISCERN THESE LEADERS FROM THE ROWDY CROWD AND ELECT THEM.