when big is ridiculed by small

An old joke and current Indian polity

Jupinderjit Singh

There is an old and dirty joke, I have heard many a times across the country, about two Indian leaders and a Pakistani, who were making an aerial survey of the proposed boundaries after the partition of the country.

The plane crashed and they fell in a jungle still controlled by British Army. The English soldiers though recognizing them thought of playing a prank telling them they would let them through only if they could collectively jump up to one metre.

Two of them jumped 990 cms with the third one, well known for his weak frame and scanty clothes just managed to jump 10 cms to make it through. Once across the border, the leader with 10 cm jump ridiculed others saying it were only because of his “jump” that they all managed to pass the border.

My male friends would surely remember what the original joke was. It had to be tampered for public consumption. But the point in mentioning the joke here is not lost. The claim of the 10 cm leader evoked laughter in the joke but it would bring disappointment when seen in context with the current Indian polity.

Tomorrow, by the time the counting is over the bigger ones like the BJP and the congress would again be subjected to the similar ridicule. Smaller parties with few cms here and there would be calling the shots. This is not to say that only the BJP or the Congress deserved to be the bigger parties. But in today’s context, these two are the only ones. One wishes if there were some alternatives. Some national parties which can win trust of the entire nation and give a stable government.

But that is not to be. The smaller parties are going to call the shots. The government will be again succumbing to the populist policies and to the wish of small giants irrespective of whether it is good for the country or not.

In this trying time of recession, political stability is the first thing the country requires. Tomorrow, when the parties would get busy ( they already are, in fact, ) in making permutations and combinations to bring around foes and old but lost friends, the country would be just hoping the politicians would be able to cook a success recipe for the nation. Or we may again have a weak coalition at the mercy of the coalition partners.

When would all this end? One just wished the Election Commission had allowed rejection of candidates to the voters. I am sure many of the big names too would have been rejected and banned from contesting elections in future.

Perhaps fresh faces, perhaps from the intelligentsia, some one with vision, some collective groups of army officers, journalists, environmentalists, social workers –all come together and give a fresh national party to the Indian electorate.

Unless there is a new group of nationalist leaders, who rise above regionalism and communalism, the country would keep facing ridicule at the hands of political parties thumping their chest at just few seats in their pockets.

EOM