NO man is a god! When man comes to power, he comes with a suitcase full of weaknesses, and one of them is adulation! Which man doesn’t love to hear the roar of a crowd as he walks on stage? Which man doesn’t love seeing looks of adoration on the faces of his admirers, and when those admirers turn from hundreds to thousands to millions, then they crowd out the faces of those who are not under his spell!
And slowly, the leader who at first may have been discerning, stops looking beyond the crowd around him, and assumes the praise and worship he receives from around, is of the whole world! It isn’t!
Just beyond that same crowd of adorers, are millions who are not emotionlessly moved, ones who are thinkers and ones who have questions. Questions that remain unanswered as the much-adulated man now has big blinkers on his eyes. These blinkers can lead to his downfall, unless he heeds some checks and balances that are there to help him or her.
These checks and balances come in the form of unusual, and very ‘rabid appearing attacks’, or so the great man or woman thinks, because to them, the only reason for such vicious attacks could be jealousy, hatred or some form of external stimuli; not for a moment does he or she think that these TV talks, documentaries or foreign data, are anything but fictitious, because he has closed his mind to everything but his or her venerating coterie, big or small that surrounds them.
This happened to Rahul’s father, Rajiv, who, surrounded by ‘yes’ men, did not see the real India, which the son through his padayatra is now seeing. And his father, who came to power with a two-third majority gambled it away and lost the next election. Warning bells are ringing today as according to today’s Indian Express newspaper, ‘US research firm, Hindenburg, alleges stock manipulation in billionaire Adani’s group’!
It is important that one heeds these checks and balances, which come very often from distant shores, because those in the same country, as was seen in Sri Lanka, are afraid to voice their opinions. Data, showing corruption rising, statistics mentioning poverty growing, TV documentaries asking about atrocities committed, should not be disregarded or banned, but should be addressed. And when addressed, comes to birth a true leader.
That true leader knows that to truly show leadership he now has to win over those who have been hurt, quite often by his previous march to victory. But to be remembered as a leader and statesman he has to remove his self-blinding ‘adulation filled’ blinkers! There’s no other way. These checks and balances have to be heeded, have to be handled, hands on. And that handling or not handling, showcases a real leader! Heed the checks and balances don’t ban them sir..!
