OBAMA'S SPEECH - OUR POLITICIANS, OUR EDUCATED YOUTH

The most interesting and at the same time, thought-provoking to me was Obama's talks to the students of St.Xavier's College, Mumbai.
What he conveyed to the youthful students - it go on thus - 'you are the future leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs, consisting half of more than 1 billion Indian population'. That what Obama said brought smiles of joy and cheer to the students since it is dreaming time to youths anywhere across the world. His was not a new discovery and the most interesting and amusing thing if we pause for a moment and reflect upon, is ever since we were children, our leaders, here I mean, our rulers particularly parrot the same words to their own students, the Indian students, children and youth alike. That they are the future leaders of India and that they are proud of them and they are dreaming about the enlightened youth of the country reaching the top echelons of the country.
Actually what we witness today and what we were witnessing for the last few decades are our rulers - not all - most of them belonging to various parties as coalition politics have turned out to be a reality after the GOP, Indian National Congress forefeited its right to rule the nation single- handed, are near illiterates unlike the ones in US. To become a ruler - a minister rules like a sultan comfortably seated in his cosy seat -remains each politician's dream and each has the guts and skin-thickness to fight the elections and by hook or crook win hands down at the hustings and by forming an outfit and sitting on the fence aligns with a prominent party and grab a prestigious post in the cabinet. Then no stopping and no looking back. Once in power, power and pelf-naturally arrive as also gun-wielding security to the left, right, front and back. He/she evolves into VVIPs and VIPs, need not worry, each one is ably, submissively assisted by loyal bureaucrats who by sheer hardwork in schools and colleges secure IAS, IPS or IFS - all higly educated lot. Thus we witness today the literates as well as semi-literates and illiterates issuing orders to their respective private secretaries including those in the concerned ministries and forcing them oblige, sorry no need whatsoever to force these IAS, IPS and IFS elite, they wilfully oblige their Babus. What all they nurse in their minds I mean their opinions about their Babus a different matter altogether. Like dolls, they wilfully, deliberately play into the hands of their respected Heads. A major chunk of their lives thus spent lavishly and upon retirement lead a calmful life with monthly pension, the govt of the day magnanimously pays. Exceptional cases are there ofcourse, and please note I am not casting aspersions over the entire bureaucratic community.
In India political leaders especially rulers are the most powerful, be they literates, illiterates or semi-literates. Naturally upon getting installed in the saddle, remember, they reach that position by contesting in the elections and emerging victorious with the mass-support. The promises delivered the assurances given through fiery speeches across their respective constituencies are innumerable and here also the fittest survive. And another cardinal matter, worrisome and deplorable too, is the money-power - the currencies amounting to crores and crores pumped into the election arena to bribe the voters, the poor ones always fall prey to the temptations and adding to the curse a new syndrome called 'paid-news syndrome' an affectation in recent years came to the fore and now without conducting awareness programmes among the masses this ugly syndrome has captured almost everyone's attention. Our once applauded media community both print and visual media have fallen prey to this syndrome and these section of media bidding good-bye to the age-old journalist values, moral and ethical, slavishly bribed by the crorepatis and millionaire politicians. It is somewhat heartening that the concerned authorities after representations and after representations are seized of the matter and an enquiry committee formed under Press Council of India (PCI) and after detailed investigations submitted the report to the authorities suggesting drastic steps to be taken against the media community which deviate from the journalistic values, it is learnt. Whether any drastic steps would be taken to stop the menace remains a moot question.
Hence, as representatives of the masses, our rulers are constitutionally and naturally blessed with the authority to make their educated 'sub-ordinates' obey their orders and the sub-ordinates always remain willing tools of their Ministers. If any of them dare to refuse the orders, such ones are suitably dealt with through punitive measures like transfers, suspensions, even dismissals. Some are asked to proceed on long leave. These bureaucratic community being held as the ones not representing the crores of electorate.
They are bound to oblige since service rules framed are on those lines and more over they are not peoples' representatives like the ruling elite. Literate, semi-illiterate and illiterate, an entirely different matter. More than 30 percent of our parliamentarians have criminal backgrounds, that in no way affect them adversely, when it comes to the matter of voting in Parliament. Those behind bars are, whenever the situation demands like voting at the time of confidence or no-confidence motions brought to Parliament equipped with massive security provided to the VVIPs as they are VIPs in the eyes of the government. Whether such lucks would dawn upon a bureaucrat and for that matter an ordinary citizen?
Never, never, never..........
Naturally we expect a question from several people especially from the political class.
Why can' these bureaucrats quit their posts and come out of the labyrinth of officialdom and decide to contest elections to either LokSabha or State Assemblies and in the eventuality of they winning the elections they could also join the political mainstream and God permits reach the top-most position in the Cabinet? Every Indian, past 35 years of age is free to contest Parliament election be he literate, semi-illiterate or illiterate. Very difficult poser and equally difficult to answer, as such a poser is a plausible one.
To rectify this anomaly, rectify we must, it is incumbent upon the governments to amend the laws and fixing a criteria for contesting elections to the parliament. Here comes the importance of education.
Our educated lot, many of them IITians, Engineers, Medical personalities, Software engineers, Scientists - a variety of them always hate or hesitate to join politics instead they prefer to concentrate on their professions, as each of them keeps a kind of prejudice, inhibition towards towards politics and prefers to keep aloof from it. But the ultimate result being they evolve into submissive tools of those politicians who don't have the need of proper education.
Barack Obama too, while addressing the students of St.Xavier's College, Mumbai, while talking to them these words : You are the future , leaders of India might not have thought about political scenario in India. Or whether he meant an all-encompassing view....that remains however unclear.
Barack Obama leaves India seeing one side of the picture not only Obama almost all foreign leaders come and go keeping one side of the picture, the other part being swept under carpet. The same might be true about US also.
If our political scenario has to change for the better atleast in future, the mind-set of our educated youth must have to undergo a sea-change. Whether such a possibility - a silver lining - visbile in the horizon?. Sorry, an emphatic 'No' is the answer. Anyhow business and industrial tycoons across India have found a new method of manipulating the affairs of government through backseat driving or by keeping a remote control device.