When Character Is Lost…

 

What is wrong with our nation? This, perhaps, is the million dollar question that needs to be answered given the exposes that one after another prove that all our institutions are in a state of total decay. As if the political, bureaucratic and business classes were not enough, the people at the helm of affairs in sport bodies also had skeletons in their cupboards. Is it that the character of the nation as a whole is rotten? Difficult to say but the stench in the state of affairs in the present times reminds of the old adage –‘when wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; but when character is lost, everything is lost.’ In the fall out of Indian Premier League match fixing scandals the credibility of cricket and the cricketers has taken a severe beating. The BCCI, our apex cricketing body, arguably, the richest cricket association in the world, has certainly not covered itself with glory by the type of shameless cover that was done to douse the fire that had surrounded the top cricket executives of the country.

The brazen move to bring in Dalmiya as a stop gap arrangement for Srinivasan said to have stepped aside does not make much sense. Further, the debate that ensued has brought to the fore some self styled apologists of the scandalous conduct of the unscrupulous functionaries, their henchmen and some blue eyed protégés from the game. The arguments they have been putting forward is too specious, rather a shameless retort. A very common refrain was that the game will not be affected and people will still rush to the next IPL. Well, that has to be seen. But even if that happens the game will never be the same again. It will become like the WWF wrestling matches that will entertain the school going kids rather than a serious lover of the game. What is being missed is the point that the cricket was elevated to the level of religion in this subcontinent and the cricketers were held in a kind of awe reserved for gods. What about that? What about the trust of people, their belief in their heroes. It is not a simple matter of betting that many a so called intellectuals are likening it to. It is not betting on a horse. It is reposing one’s faith on his favorite player. It is not a horse race where people bet on expected winner. It is a game in which the cricket fans identify with their heroes. Has not their faith been shattered? How is legalizing betting in cricket going to sort this out. The rot cannot be stemmed by such quick fix solutions. Those who are advocating this must empathize with the millions of fans of the cricketing heroes, who will doubt every time their idol is run out or caught in the slips. They will doubt every time their idol over steps on the popping crease and is declared delivering a no ball. It is not going to be that simple. Even the genuine lapses of the players will appear to be motivated and stage managed. That is the kind of damage that has been inflicted to the game. Not only the credibility of the game has suffered the blow, the credibility of the cricketers has also sunk to lowly levels. It will be difficult for the cricket lover to make out whether his hero is playing for a ‘bhai’ or a ‘bai’. If we want to save everything from being lost the task is cut out for the cricketers. They must prove themselves.

Sad, the players who got rich by taking the eggs their golden goose cricket laid are trying to kill the goose itself. This get rich quick disease is the root cause of all problems. 

Wanted Philosopher Kings

                                                   

There is an old but very relevant saying attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Given the state of the Indian polity it is worth reiterating that ‘when wealth is lost nothing is lost, when health is lost something is lost; when character is lost everything is lost’. Given the many scams worth astronomical sums involving the political class, the recent news that many of our Members of Parliament (MPs) have appointed relatives as their personal staff may appear to be of little significance. But still it reflects the nature of our polity and character of our politicians. Not only that, it also tells us about the nature of our populace who still believe that they are the subjects and not citizens and have no right to question. The news story first. A recent news item reported in some sections of the media informs that 146 MPs have appointed near relatives as their personal staff who receive salary and allowances from the public exchequer. Given the fact that the said allowances may on an average cost some fifty to sixty thousand rupees a month per member, the amount may be small but its implications are rather big. It is these members of the personal staff that act as the conduit from the many unscrupulous deals that is eating away the resources of this country.

Nepotism has been a major weakness of our Indian society in which Kingship invariable goes with kinship. So there are these 104 MPs of Lok Sabha and 42 MPs from the Rajya Sabha who have appointed around 190 relatives as their personal staff in a brazen manner. It is interesting to know that no political party has come clean on this. Gradually, our democracy is becoming a system of the families for the families. True, there are no such rules that debar MPs from the appointing their kin on their personal staff. But rules are not the sole criterion when it comes to determining probity in public life. Caesar’s wife has to be above board. 

Why our politicians have become so unconcerned about popular perception needs to be found out. There was a time when our leaders used to be epitome of values. The anecdote that follows may throw considerable light on the character of our politicians of the past. This is the story of Sardar Patel who was the then home minister of the country. Some business houses suggested his eldest son Daya bhai to start a newspaper which they would finance. Daya bhai wanted to take approval of his father in this regard and therefore went to Sardar Patel and narrated the whole story. This infuriated Patel who told Daya bhai that the business houses were not financing his project but a venture launched by the home minister’s son. Patel very curtly told his son to not to show him his face again. And he meant it. When the Sardar was on his death bed Daya bhai wanted to see his father. He requested Maniben, Patel’s daughter who was nursing her father in his last days to communicate his wish to Sardar. The unrelenting Sardar asked Mani ben in no uncertain terms to tell Daya bhai to leave forthwith otherwise Patel would not be able to die in peace. Contrast this with the character of our present day politicians. We need men of character to become rulers, or else the country’s future is doomed. And we need to think  why the Greek Wiseman and the   architect of modern day democracy, Plato had said that ‘there will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands’.