Why Indian Politicians Dont Retire .!!

Why do Indian politicians not retire ?Because they are not like you and me

What do we  do when  there is nothing to do? Well for us  that is not a problem. We sleep. We laze. We bond. We read or, more probably, doze before the more mindless television junk. We might even indulge in some minor free-market crime, like watching pirated movies.Or have food at a dhabha or a restaurant.Or log on to Facebook for hours .  There is lots to do when there is nothing to do. For normal people.

But since those who have once tasted power tend to be too grand to be normal, they have a problem when ejected out of office. After a spell of life during which every minute is allotted, either to work or to flatterers, the absence of a printed schedule (not to mention the absence of hangers-on) can be tormenting.

Politicians in other countries  have  found solutions. In America they all sign up with agents who put them on lecture tours. America is a very audio-friendly society. Instead of falling asleep at lectures, people actually pay to hear them. An orator like Bill Clinton makes millions out of lectures. This may not sound surprising, given the number of women anxious for proximity!!; but even serious men are willing to lay out a budget for the privilege of hearing him speak. Even British politicians with some cache are beginning to get on. Then there is membership of the board of companies. British politicians are far more adept at becoming directors. The city keeps a fair percentage of its space at the top for out-of-work politicians.

Then of course there are books. The Clintons, Bill and Hillary, made, together, nearly twenty million dollars at the very least from their respective memoirs. Colin Powell saved himself from any chance of penury with his book about the first Bush-Gulf war. The trick of course is to be known well-enough to be a regular face on television. If you are seen on TV your book will be purchased by large numbers of suckers who have no desire whatsoever to open its pages, except perhaps to get the copy signed by the author.

We can see instantly that almost none of this works in India. Who was the last Indian politician who wrote a best-seller? Who was the last Indian politician who wrote a book? The only author-politicians who come to mind are Natwar Singh, Mani Shankar Aiyar and former finance minister of Bengal Ashok Mitra, and that is because politics is a second, post-retirement, occupation for them. (I can’t include Arun Shourie in this category because there is some doubt as to whether he was ever a politician. He was in office but never in politics.) Atal Behari Vajpayee wrote good poetry, which is evidence of his difference, but while poetry might fetch an audience it does not fetch royalties.

 
So does it mean that our politicians don’t retire because they are not good at earning a living outside politics ?Well true to some extent but not wholly .Kapil Sibal and Arun Jaitley are brilliant professionals and if they retire they will make their millions .Does it mean that Indian politicians cant write and speak like their counterparts in England and America ?Again yes and no .Just read what J.Nehru wrote  on Gandhi,  for at least two reasons: to glimpse the quality of politics in his time, and for the sheer joy of reading excellent prose.
 
‘And then came Gandhi… Much that he said we only partially accepted or sometimes did not accept at all. But all this was secondary. The essence of his teaching was fearlessness and truth … abhaya, fearlessness, not merely bodily courage but the absence of fear from the mind. Janaka and Yajnavalka had said, at the dawn of our history, that it was the function of the leaders of a people to make them fearless. But the dominant impulse in India under British rule was that of fear. Pervasive, oppressing, strangling fear… It was against this all-pervading fear that Gandhi’s quiet and determined voice was raised: Be not afraid. Was it so simple as all that? Not quite. And yet fear builds its phantoms which are more fearsome than reality itself, and reality when calmly analysed and its consequences willingly accepted loses much of its terror.’

Brilliant –but how many Nehrus do we have ???.

Anyway ,since I am not a politician ,and since I am not drawn to the cesspool of power –I am on my way to just about completing a book .It may not make me a millionaire ,but it will surely provide me with dal and roti –which is all that I eat these days .!!My wife earns enough and my son is on his way to becoming independent .So i dont have to worry about them .

Why We Must Take Sides.

As Indians we tend to accept a lot of things without actually questioning whether they are right or wrong .This has something to do with our educational system which makes us learn things by rote ,and also because of the philosophical postulates of our culture .

‘Jo kuch bhi hota hai ,bhagwan ke wajey se hota hai”(whatever happens is because God has willed it that way),or “Yeh to hamare karma me likha thaa”.(It was a part of our destiny ).We have a theory of reincarnation which hammers it into our psyche that whatever has to happen will happen .So just bear with it well and in your next life you will be rewarded .So we tend to accept .And ,the theory also has roots in Greek Philosophy –with its schools of Epicurean and Stoics .

The above has its advantages .My grandmother put up with a lot of tyranny at home ,slogging it out under a very oppressive patriarchal system .She was one of the most unfortunate human beings I have met in my entire life .She lost her husband ,her grown up son ,her son in laws ,her four daughters and finally passed away a paralytic leaving behind only one daughter from a huge family .I often found her smiling and working tirelessly and she always justified her existence by saying that it was a part of her “karma”.At least the philosophy must have anchored her in a world in which she lost everything at a very young age .

However ,there are people who don’t accept things as they happen –just because we cant stop or change them from happening .And I am glad that we don’t .How can anyone accept tyranny ,lies ,loose morality,corruption ,evil as if they cant be fought ,and because they are a part of our karma ?Some of us keep quiet because there are powerful people who form a part of the evil gang .Some of us keep quiet because it is “politically correct”,to keep quiet .Some of us keep quiet ,collaborate with the wrong to get benefits and then desert the wrong when it starts getting uncomfortable .As if there is a choice !!Rats .!!Read what one of the greatest minds of our times ,Ayn Rand writes .I quote

“The man who refuses to judge, who neither agrees nor disagrees, who declares that there are no absolutes and believes that he escapes responsibility, is the man responsible for all the blood that is now spilled in the world. Reality is an absolute, existence is an absolute, a speck of dust is an absolute and so is a human life. Whether you live or die is an absolute. Whether you have a piece of bread or not, is an absolute. Whether you eat your bread or see it vanish into a looter's stomach, is an absolute.
There are two sides to every issue: one side is right and the other is wrong, but the middle is always evil. The man who is wrong still retains some respect for truth, if only by accepting the responsibility of choice. But the man in the middle is the knave who blanks out the truth in order to pretend that no choice or values exist, who is willing to sit out the course of any battle, willing to cash in on the blood of the innocent or to crawl on his belly to the guilty, who dispenses justice by condemning both the robber and the robbed to jail, who solves conflicts by ordering the thinker and the fool to meet each other halfway. In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit. In that transfusion of blood which drains the good to feed the evil, the compromise is the transmitting rubber tube.”Unquote .

Amazing words .And spot on .And just read what the Nobel Prize winning writer Elie Weisel had to say .

“ Of course, indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.

 In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century's wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.”

Absolutely brilliant .And could have only come from someone who endured and fought evil when Hitler unleashed it against the Jews .

And also listen to what the great Einstein had to say .

“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.” 

Or for that matter the great Conservative thinker Edmund Burke who talked of the “collective wisdom of mankind  

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” 

When voices are suppressed ,when false propaganda starts to roll ,when lies and allegations start to do the rounds ,then the source of evil gets pinpointed .No matter what one does –the voice must be snuffed out .One cant remain silent and be a spectator –because spectators always want to watch a good game .And no ones business is his /her  business if one is in a public office like that of a politician,a school Principal ,a IAS /IPS Officer ,a actor –anything .It directly or indirectly affects us  and humanity as such .Do anything with your house or property .Do anything with your car ,sarees ,jeans or eat any food you want .But dont mess around with universally accepted ideas which give all of us a level playing field .Remember –no man is a island .
 

Welcome To The School, Principal Sahib!!

Yesterday ,a teacher from our school joined as a Principal in a town on the border of Gujerat and Rajasthan .He had told me he was picking up the assignment and in one of my meetings with him ,I had asked him why he wanted to become a Principal when he was in a job that was very visible and probably very satisfying .He had replied “Sir ,meri  bahut tammanaa thi Principal bannekee .Aur ab mujhe chance mil gaya”. My mind went back many years  when I started my journey as a Principal –nearly a quarter century ago .What lies in store for him or for that matter anyone else who is embarking on this very tempestuous affair with society ?And what are the likely challenges and how would he deal with it .?What are the necessary ingredients to be a reasonably good Principal ?

The first important thing to be a good Principal has to be the enthusiasm and desire to be one.The “tammanaa” to be one must be very strong .After 12 years of teaching ,I knew I had to make a changeover .Even though  my strongest skill was teaching .I hate to boast –but I think I was a good teacher .But after a point of time it started to take a toll on me .My reputation started to take a hit .And I had more pride than Sachhin Tendulkar –I wanted to quit on a high .I wanted to leave a taste of Lindt chocolates on the tongue –not of stale rotten fish .I was hungry for a change .I wanted to be a Principal .I wanted to be like Mr Bharadwaj –my Principal ,who was dashing ,smart ,sauve and unique .Of course ,I  never became  like him .!

The next important thing to be a Principal is to have energy .I am of the opinion that the best Principals are the ones who start when they are young . Forty Five ,  years is no age to become a Principal .The energy levels tend to drop and the health issues start to crop up by that time .Your son is looking for employment and your daughter is nearing marriageble age   .One tends to become defensive and one  generally does not want  to take on people and the systems which more often than not need to delearn and reform .Besides –one needs to be energetic to be seen all over the place .Principalship is a operational job –like a field posting – and not a secretarial one .One cant behave like a babu in a "dafter" .!!

A very important thing to be a successful Principal is to be grounded .All of a sudden one gets pitchforked to a situation where you are dealing with a different set of people .I remember how exicted I was when someone pushed a visiting card to meet me .Those days when someone sent visiting cards into your office it meant you were a VIP !!Of course these days even school children have visiting cards .!!But when one is 34 years of age –one tends to get carried away .I remember my response when the visting card reached me .I was free –but I told Gokul my peon to ask Mr Aggarwal to wait . “Unko kaho ki Principal Sahab thore busy hai .Wait  karey”!!Ha ha .When I remember the incident ,I get embarrassed –but I need to share it with all who will become Principals for the first time –try to get away from the false feeling that you are a VIP .You are not –you are the guy who is actually wearing a crown of thorns .Its a tough job .And you realize it sooner –rather than later .Be practical –know yourself well and you will realize that at the end of the day you are just like anyone else ,but with a difference that you accepted to take on the responsibility of anything that happens in your school .The responsibility that the buck will stop at your table .Dont ever shift the blame on someone else .It will not work .And that’s where the pressure builds up .Its not the quantum of work you do –it’s the way you live with a feeling that if anything goes wrong –its your head on the block .Believe me ,you will stop behaving like a Important man .!!

Its important to learn the art of empowering and delegating work .As a new Principal ,one tends to want to centralize and do everything .You want to control power and you don’t want to share it .So in the beginning you will want to do everything –make timetables ,personally allot duties ,give casual leaves ,hold umpteem meetings ,issue advisories ,check copies ,walk into classrooms,direct plays , etc etc .Remember it may be first job as a Principal –but  for the teacher s you are just another new face .

Most importantly ,a new Principal must know how to shift gears from being a teacher to becoming a Principal .One must leave behind all the bad experiences as a teacher(one has a lot of them believe me !!) and your views in the staff room when you become a Principal .Time and again ,I have seen Principals fail because they could not evolve beyond the confines of the staff rooms .One notices the biases creeping in even when you you get elevated  as Heads of Departments or Vice Princpals .Rememeber the designation never makes you a Principal –its your vision and your work that will make you one .I remember the great Indian cricketer ,the late Nawab of Patuadi talking to our football team (Rai) at the Modern School in Delhi when we had lost the final of the Limca Football Tournaments .He smiled ,looked at the team ,looked at us and remarked “You cant win ,if your kit looks so clean and no one was hurt .Look at the boys from Tashi Namgyal Academy ,Gangtok .They look so battered and soiled”.Yes –you don’t become footballers by wearing football kit !!You don’t become a Principal by just getting a tag of a designation .Its hard work ,you will be battered ,you will be soiled ,you will be hurt .But you will win .

What can you expect as a Principal ?A lot of brickbats for sure .There are 2 parents for every child ,your competitor schools and your managements .Dont expect to be applauded .But don’t let the criticism break your spirit .Remember ,we live in a democratic society and we don’t expect everyone to agree with us .So take that in your stride .Dont get overrun by nomenclatures –Member of Parliament .MLA ,IG Police ,Income Tax Commisioner ,SHO ,Padmashri etc .Yes they are all very distinguished people –but if you do some wrong to please them ,they will run a mile away from you if you are questioned .So stand your ground .Be firm and be flexible only in matters that are interpretive and not violative of a simple written and well understood law or policy .If someone has 68 percent and everyone is forcing you to give him a stream whose cut off was 86 and there were 50 children who had more than 68 percent and less than 86 –then  either give all the stream or no one .Even if the Prime Minister asks you to do .These A,B,Cs of school administration must never be violated .Never have a attitude that “sub kuch chaltaa hai ,baad me theek kar layege ”.
You need to be gutsy and brave to be a Principal .As a Principal ,i have been gheraoed ,physically handled ,had a mike thrown at me ,abused ,anonymous letters written against me ,and have had FIRs lodged against my name .Give a damn for these things .Never let your eyebrows crinkle up .Our worst fears never come true .And tommorow is always a new day .A good Principal will never hide when confronted .He will step out .

Apart from that –it’s a great job ,there is a lot of glamour (if you are a part of a good school),there is enough money ,and there is a fair amount of recognition .At times you might find it difficult to get your privacy in a mall ,a restaurant,a movie hall or a airport .You will be invited to big functions ,5 Star Hotels ,and Seminars abroad .So have a set of 4/5 suits ready (definitely one pure black and pure cream !!).My distinguished friend Madan Lal Garg who became one of the leading Principals told us once the difference between a teacher and a Principal “Bhai ,Principal ke pass 5 suit hoe jarroori chahiyeh.Bus itna farak hai uske aur teacher ke beech”.!!But he was obviously oversimplifying the matter .!!You canr reduce a Principalship to a few suits !!

Lastly –expect to be tempted by the lure of monetary benefits .And please ,please ,don’t ever fall into the  trap.Money is not what we become Principals for .No one is going to respect you as a Principal for the amount of money you have .That kind of respect is reserved for industrialists and businessmen because they are in the business of creating money .Not you .You are in the business of creating futures and values to sustain a better world .

I have always been influenced by this prayer of General MacArthur for his son .I think it is a perfect guideline for any Principal to model himself on .

“ Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee — and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goals will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

And after all these things are his, give him, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the meekness of true strength.”

Welcome to the world of leadership in a school .Welcome ,Principal Sahab !!