General elections are over, results declared and a new government is in place for nearly a month. The verbosity of politicos has subsided, having served its purpose. Gradually, it seems, we are waking up to the stark realities of life. Having been fed on the promises of a hassle-free present and a bright future for the past few months, we don’t find things so nice and pretty. Incidents of rape and mindless violence are going on unabated. In the national capital itself, people are out in the sun-scorched streets crying themselves hoarse for supply of water and electricity. Prices are soaring high, what with bloody rampage in Iraq and the looming disaster the world economy is staring at. What will happen to all those promises Narendra Modi made to the nation, I wondered, first as a candidate for the Lok Sabha and then as the Prime Minister, in his first ever address in the Parliament – the promises to rein in prices, facilitate skill development in the youth, provide houses to all by 2022, focus on cleanliness at national level, work for the minorities, promote modern techniques in agriculture and change India’s image before the world from a country riddled with scams to a country known for its skilled youth? Would Modi’s agenda end up being an over-ambitious politician’s day-dreaming?
‘Not day-dreaming, my son, I’d call it dreaming fully awake,’ posited Kaga Bhushundi ji, who had appeared instantly to correct me.
‘Day-dreaming or dreaming awake – what difference does it make? We are not concerned with somebody’s dreams – reveries or otherwise – it’s our future we are worried about.’
‘Son,’ said Kagaji, ‘day-dreaming is the refuge of idlers – those who fail to get what they set out for. Persons who dream awake are men with vision, who have the will and wherewithal to achieve their objectives.’
‘Kagaji, don’t talk like a BJP worker. Every new government comes up with a grand vision and ends up in a grander delusion.’
Kaga Bhushundi SpeakEth
Suman K Sharma
‘Your government has just begun to mop the debris of its predecessor. Give it time, son, to prove its worth. And mind you, a government is only as good as the governed make it. No ruler has ever achieved success all by himself. Even Raja Ram sought the cooperation of the lowliest of His prajaa for the smooth running of Ram-rajya.’
‘Kagaji,’ I said with some concern, ‘please don’t talk of Raja Ram or Ram-rajya, or they will say you are promoting Hindutva…’
‘Blessed be they who say ‘Ram-Ram’ even if to blame me. But tell me, son, what role are you going play in realization of the vision of a stronger, more prosperous and happier Bharat?’
‘What role for me? You know I am just an aam admi, who is expected to pay his taxes, cast his vote when asked and abide by the rule of law. Bas. For grander things like nation building, the sarkar, I mean the Prime Minister and his team of ministers, have thousands of tried and tested thinkers to think for them; and lakhs upon lakhs of others to put those thoughts in practice.’
‘But you cannot shirk your own responsibility as a citizen, son. Remember, there was a time, not too long ago, when ‘Bharat’ was just an idea; on the ground this land was divided into hundreds of kingdoms. There was a time too, in the recent memory, when you looked up to foreign countries to meet your daily need of food-grains and your tiny-tots yearned for a glass of milk. And now look at yourself. You have got yourself one Bharat of 120 crore Bharatiyas. You don’t go saat samundar paar – seven seas across – anymore for grain; you export quality grain to other countries. And though Bharat neither needs nor can afford milk flowing down its rivers, your children don’t go crying for want of milk. How have these changes come about? Your netas had dreams but it was janta – you people – who made those dreams come true.’
‘Janta followed, and will follow its leaders like herds follow herdsmen. Nothing much to it, Kagaji.’
‘You are mistaken, son. The masses followed the leaders because they believed in their vision and committed themselves to it. You men are not cattle that anyone can herd you for long. Only recently, you discarded the leaders you were fed up with and have got yourselves a government of your choice.’
‘Okay. We do have a government of our choice. Now what?’
‘Now is the time, son. Be as good, honest and committed naagriks as you expect your sarkar to be.’
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