Whenever I look up social or
anti-social media for some humor, I invariably run into some mockery of our
favorite youth icon – Rahul Gandhi. I don’t know it its only me or its only me!
In times of a Modi ripple (sorry, tsunami) I honestly see no daftness in believing
that maligning Rahul Gandhi is the most glamorous activity to engage in. In
addition to the social quotient attached to such wit and comic content, there
is a much bigger joy emanating from cracking a “Rahul Gandhi” joke – feeling a
sense of inclusion among the mob. Being as dispassionate as I can possibly be
about the man, it is evident that most people who enjoy Rahul Gandhi bashing
are those who are being indoctrinated about a Modi wave and feel stupid to miss
out on it. The ticket to this bandwagon is twisting everything said, unsaid,
thought, or even remotely associated with Rahul Gandhi and convert it into a cliché.
Be true to yourselves and judge is you believe in half of those jokes you try
to laugh at. Agreed there have been bloopers; so what? Even Barack Obama messed
up his swearing in ceremony!
The point I am making is that
there is no method to the madness. In a free-for-all, every passer-by wants his
piece of cake. And why not! Like most people mock Honey Singh to sound cool and
appear acceptable but believe in “blue
hai paani paani” – the uninformed detractors of Rahul Gandhi engage in a
variant of character assassination, whose substance is negligible, laughable and
pathetic.
For someone who was born into a
dynasty, without this consent, the price he is being made to pay is anything
but fairly commensurate. Yes, there is merit in the argument that, he, perhaps,
may not have risen to such an elevated stature in public life had he not been
born into the ruling dynasty. Now that he, fortunately or unfortunately,
willingly or unwillingly, wittingly or unwittingly, did are we going to hang him for
that? Let us be honest – Rahul Gandhi has his heart in the right place. Yes, he
does. I believe so. And before you accuse of being a Congress sycophant, may I please
(no Modi fan ever uses such polite language – like leader, like disciples)
state that I write this of my own personal volition, conviction, interpretation
and perspective.
If I were to draw your attention
to the Arnab Goswami interview, I am certain that I would face a deluge of views
that belittle and slander the interviewee. And it is fair, honestly. Why? Because
we are so used to taking things at face value that we do not trouble ourselves to
read between the lines. In the times of twitter and the ridiculous “tiny tales”,
we are struggling to read the lines; let alone reading in between the lines. Yes,
the interview has frequently punctuated by numerous repetitions of non-glamorous
issues which weren’t palatable to our taste, which is so accustomed to sensation.
What is s wrong if Rahul Gandhi tried to divert the interview back to the core
issues of women empowerment, RTI, youth and others? Are these not relevant? Or are
we limiting relevance to this apology for the 1984 riots? Where the perpetrator
of the 2002 pogrom likens deaths of minorities to puppies being killed by
speeding cards, why would Rahul Gandhi apologise or even comment on an incident
that happened more than three decades ago, when he was in his teens? Is that
sensible, let alone being fair? I fear, it isn’t. If he is under fire for his
academic degrees, none of us know for how many minutes has Modi sold tea or
whether he can even brew one cup himself for personal consumption? But, casting
such aspersions are blasphemous in the times we live in.
Here is a man who has ideas, who
talks issues and doesn’t flaunt the size of his chest, hairy or waxed! Perhaps,
in the context of the immediacy of the 2014 polls, these may seem to be
irrelevant. I concede, the emphasis on these issues is rather mistimed for our
people love rhetoric and self-gloating, slander and mud-slinging. When was the
last time did you hear Rahul Gandhi attack anybody personally or use derogatory
language? He does not indulge in boyish wordplay like “Harvard and hard work” despite
being 20 years younger than a mature seasoned politician. We ought to give
credit where due and it is rightfully due here. To be a polite talker in a
crescendo of mindless shouting needs a certain character that most of us seem
to miss. It is not that he is incapable of cranking up the noise or raise his
pitch. We all saw it at the Talkatora stadium. Instead of talking about BJP’s desperate
prime ministerial candidate, he prefers to talk about differences in ideology
and mindsets. Maybe he understands ideologies better than someone who rewrites
history for self-amusement. Maybe for Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi is a
non-entity who doesn’t exist. He is entitled to his view, isn’t he? There is no
compulsion for the man to feel as passionately about tea sellers are you
coffee-drinkers turned tea connoisseurs feel, is there?
None of us seem to appreciate his
attempt to foster inner party democracy and conduct primaries. Agreed the scale
is small to cater to the sensibilities of those afflicted by big-bang theatricals,
but no idea is ever (never ever ever ever ….) implemented before testing it in
controlled simulated environment? We don’t want to criticize Murli Manohar
Joshi being kicked out of his constituency and L K Advani being denied a
ticket, but we want to tear into Rahul Gandhi’s attempt to open up his party. It
is not easy to introduce democracy in a party that has fired its CMs at
airports and locked up its Presidents in bathrooms. Nonetheless, Rahul Gandhi has
faced more than necessary flak for not swiftly implementing these ideas. However,
we need to understand and appreciate the resistance from the old guard, who are
being shaken out of their comfort zones. No change is smooth and seamless.
If he is showing no signs of drooling at the PM’s seat, why are we contrasting it with Modi’s open ambition
to latch on to power? I am not saying Modi’s positioning is wrong or sinister
or depraved in anyway. It is legitimate. So is Rahul Gandhi’s position on not
being in a hurry to take up such a huge responsibility.
He may, presently, not be the
best person to lead India. And I am not implying that he has impeccable
credentials like other bootleggers in his party do. But I am certainly saying
that we cannot jump the gun and write him off. More than his suitability for
the post of Prime Minster of this country, it is a sense of mindless libel that
is in bad-taste. In defense of his detractors, he has no track record of his
own and he has himself to blame for that. Had he developed some tangible
record, he could’ve blunted the personal criticism and perhaps his sycophants
would speak up the numbers. Now that he hasn’t done that, he will have deal
with pungent and bitter tirades of those who will switch sides in 5 years. I distinctly
remember a lot of girls, who once gloated over Rahul Gandhi’s earnestness and
today gush about Modi’s chest. 5 more years in the gym and we will get there!
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