Another
I-Day around the corner! Let me start by again using a statement that I quote
very often from former Gallup researcher Marcus Buckingham from his ground-breaking book co-written with Curt Coffman; First Break All The Rules: "What a leader does for
followers is… turn anxiety into confidence. They’ve always done that throughout
time and in every different society and situation. When leaders lead well, it’s
because they’re able to rally people to a better future and make people
spirited when they were previously anxious”. India is anxious; Indian
govt is without a leader. Even Moses recently pointed out “anger is rising among youth” and poverty is just a “state of mind”.
People are
tired of boring, mumbling and whining speeches. They don’t want to hear another
one this I-Day. They are tired of political street gangs. They are tired of
corruption and dynastic rule. They are looking for courage and leadership. In
the absence of leadership people start drinking the sand from the mirage when
they don’t find the oasis. But people can also tell the difference when they do
see a true leader. One of the greatest gifts of leaders is to communicate and
make people respond. Somewhat like a Rockstar.
Remember the
SpiceGirls, the all-girl band from
England? They had many hits in the late 1990s but their fall was as swift
because when they went on stage in front of a live audience, people realised
they couldn’t really sing. They were studio musicians. Some of our politicians
are like that. Sometimes they are worse; they
even goof up while reading from a piece of paper. But here’s a legend that
had a very electrifying presence on stage. He could get the audience responding
to da-das and doo-doos from his songs impromptu. He could arouse passions in
the audience and get them chanting along. Watch (3.50 mins):
India is ‘under pressure’. The economy is under
pressure. The rupee is under pressure. The loveable but mundane onion is under
pressure. Indians are under pressure. They want opportunities and they want the
country to move forward. They want leadership; they want a patriot who speaks
their language and feels their hearts. That’s what they got when Narendra Modi made his appearance at a
first major rally in Hyderabad. It was a Rockstar performance. His detractors
didn’t have much to poke holes with. They were left gasping too, except for the
usual lament. But unfortunately, the usual tags of communal, fascist, bigot, Nazi,
Hitler, Yamraj, Bhasmasur didn’t follow that easily. People aren’t buying such
stuff anymore. Modi, as usual, left something for his detractors to chew upon.
And they fell for the bait hook, line and sinker. I tweeted about it and have
included someone who fell for Modi’s trap:
So Modi’s
permanent haters were quick to jump claiming he stole the “yes we can” line from Barack Obama. That’s just about all they
could find. Pawan Khera, Sheila Dikshit’s assistant, claimed the crowd
was too small for a Southern rally. BURN!
BURN! Yeah! Over 1 lakh people is
hardly a crowd in India, isn’t it? In a
historic first, people also sacrificed a meal to hear a politician speak.
Err… that would be Rs.5 which, according to a messiah, gets one a meal in
Delhi. So let’s first see who cared to even hear Modi talking:
People in
the stadium! People outside the stadium! People in private buildings! “People on the streets… Pray tomorrow - gets me higher… These
are the days it never rains but it pours”. That’s what happened on
Sunday, August 11 when NaMo rocked Hyderabad. People not only heard him from
everywhere but they responded to him like they would respond to a Rockstar. John Lennon once said spiritual gurus
are Popstars in India because of the crowds they attract who listen and follow
them. In the modern era in India no politician has acquired that status except
Narendra Modi. It’s not just his oratory but the fact that his words come from
positive thinking and are filled with passion that draws people. His
condemnation of political misdeeds by opponents is equally stinging and harsh. “Doob Maro, Doob Maro” he told the
ruling party. There’s not much you can do when the people line up behind such a
leader. You have to come up with something better than he did. Sure enough,
someone came up with something better. Trust the Congress spokie to come up
with this:
So if there
is nothing that you can counter Modi’s speech with, just utter nonsense like RenukaC did with CNN-IBN. So everybody
in the shoot-Modi business was trying to find something to run down a
spectacular meeting and speech. And in such a situation can Rajdeep Sardesai be left behind? Of
course, not! He too fell for the Modi-trap like Smita Prakash in the first
tweet on top. He thought the “Yes we can” thing was very imitative and wanted
some “desi” version. Funny! These
slaves always like English Laloos
and grovel for anything western but want “desi” when they think Modi has
plagiarised Obama. SwapanD points out that when someone points to the moon, the
idiot looks at the finger. Remember the scene from ‘Enter the Dragon’ where Bruce Lee gives some concentration
lessons to a young kid? In my previous post I had mentioned the principle of ‘measure twice, cut once’. It’s an
important principle, especially for those in the news business. Fact-check,
double-check before shooting your hate-filled head off. But if one is committed
to hate, then at some point reason and logic are sure to die a natural death in
their life. None of them bothered.
Our media folks
are so obsessed with Barack Obama that they can’t bother to check. They should,
by now, be aware that Modi lays traps for them into which they gladly fall like
a bunch of fools. Obama came to prominence during the Democratic Party’s
national convention which nominated John Kerry as their presidential candidate
in 2004. That was sometime in July 2004.
He didn’t use the term “yes we can” until his campaign in 2008. People have
traced the origins of the term to Swami Vivekananda. Modi is a big ‘bhakt’ of Swami Vivekananda. And he
used the phrase “Gujarat can, Gujaratis
will” in January 2004 during the Vibrant Gujarat festival. Here’s the video
that Modi shared in a tweet
(0.43 secs):
At the end
of it Modi asks the crowd (in Gujarati) to chant the mantra loud enough so that
it’s heard in UK and USA. Well, I
guess that’s how Obama heard that chant. But the ignoramuses never heard Modi, they
were busy cooking up stories against him and slandering him. They probably
never even read any of Swami Vivekananda because he too wore saffron sometimes.
Modi’s detractors and the media have lost
the plot. It is now his supporters who are seeking his foreign-policy
vision or his vision for Telengana/AP or offering him real criticism. You can
find such articles on the web.
India is
under pressure. Indians are under pressure. The people’s Mercury is rising through anger and frustration. Modi is
rising too. They naturally want to chant a different tune, with a different
leader. A nation thrives on self-esteem and aspirations. This has been
consistently eroded by the current govt at the Centre. Rising prices, unemployment,
nepotism, enemies at the gates, jawans being killed, terrorists being
glorified, endless scams and corruption by the govt operators! There is a dangerous monotony to it.
At a time
like this, at another I-Day celebration, hope is the only thing that floats.
Only yesterday news reports confirmed British MPs have invited NaMo to address
their parliament. The topic? “Future of
modern India”! Commenting on it, British MP Stephen Pound said “Modi is now
a player on the world stage”. If they realised their mistakes, the Indian
politicians and media celebs would do well to politically combat Modi
honourably and not with mindless hatred. The hour is still not too late. Like before, instead of listening to
another shameful lament, another mumbling and incoherent speech listen to an
inspiring speech that can lift people.
NaMo’s speech was long so not being reproduced here but you can listen
to it on Youtube.
Happy Independence Day!
Note: The first video in this post features the
late Freddie Mercury (of the band
“Queen”) at Wembley stadium, around 1986. The song: “Under Pressure” co-written with David Bowie.
