Clean Sweep Ignatius

So, we have a new president, His Excellency Ram Nath Kovind. The writing was on the wall on who would win the presidential election the day they announced the competing candidates. It was almost like one man race. I feel sorry for Ms. Meira Kumar, she ended up on the wrong side. She did put up a brave front until the end, asking voters to vote based on their conscience and claiming her bid as battle for ideology, not individuals. I still cannot figure out what gave her so much confidence of winning. However, there is small consolation for her, a saving grace, as she got the highest votes by a losing candidate in the last 50 years.

BJP/RSS followers must be extremely happy on the election of the new president, as he is a BJP member, also admirer of RSS ideology.  The current establishment (NDA) projected him as a champion of Dalits. So, that should make the Dalits ecstatic, except for Madam Mayawati, who is still seething with rage for not being allowed to say what she intended to say in Rajya Sabha. 

But honestly, why is there so much fuss for electing a new president. It is supposed to be a position independent of any political party affiliation, so it should be amicably decided unanimously. But no, it doesn't happen that way. There is so much of canvassing, promises made to states for more financial support, inciting pride for communities, strategic positioning for winning future elections, the list is endless.

So now that we have a new president, how is it going change our lives. Will it have a great impact on the country? Will the Dalits benefit greatly, will their lives become better? As for the common man, from what I have seen throughout my life, the president's position has very low visibility. We hear his speech on Republic Day and whenever some special message has to be conveyed. We read about him whenever some matter related to the Constitution or a bill requires his decision or when some ministers have to be appointed. We read about his statements when he congratulates someone's or country's achievements. We read news about him when a petition for commuting hanging of someone is to be decided. We watch him handing over awards to film stars, sportsmen and others. Most of the time it makes you scratch your head wondering "award for what". So, what exactly will be the impact for common man? Honestly, I do not know.

In recent times we have seen how things have changed with the Governors of many states, they have been taking more proactive interests in the affairs of the states. Perhaps, we may see more involvement from this president in the day to day affairs of the country.

During run up to the election, there was a buzz in the news media that, in 2010, HE Ram Nath Kovind was against minorities as he opposed religion based reservations because according to him Islam and Christianity were alien to the nation. Now that he is the President of India, his stance might change. Politicians may say hundreds of atrocious and outrageous things in the past but once they occupy the high seat, their attitudes change. We have seen it in the recent past how attitudes and actions have changed by 180 degrees. When it is convenient, their ambition to hold on to their power and position dilutes their arrogance, their outspokenness, turns them into fair-minded and broad-minded persons. In fact, the president has already given out couple of statements quite contrary to his earlier attitude towards minorities "We are diverse, yet united and one" and "every Indian contributing to nation building". With that, he has apparently projected his independence of any political party or their ideology.

I wonder how the Indian News Media will address the new president. The people from the fourth estate have strange ways of addressing politicians and it seems the politicians are OK with it. It has always been "Rao", not Prime Minister Rao, "Kalam", not HE President Abdul Kalam, "Pranab", not HE President Pranab Mukherjee, "Chidu", not FM/DM Chidambaram, "Siddu", not CM Siddaramaiah, "Diggi", not CM Digvijaya Singh, "Babu", not CM Chandrababu Naidu. This is from news media reporters, not from social media trolls. One news media already had a headline "Kovind takes oath today". In the next few days we will surely come to know what names the media has for the new president. It appears as though news media too has it's own brat pack! Who can blame them when there is no protocol to be followed. If it was there, someone would have surely pointed it out.

As for reporting news of crimes, the news media shows special reverence to the criminals or alleged criminals, "On being arrested by cops, the alleged rapist Mr. Alleged Rapist/Criminal claimed that he was completely innocent. Our reporter met the family of Mr. Alleged Rapist/Criminal. Actually, we are at his house, here, this is his house and these are his family members. Mr. Alleged Rapist/Criminal's Father claimed that his son was innocent, a very loving person, he was being framed by his enemies". 

Anyway, the election of a new president is done and dusted. There was special farewell party for the outgoing president. PM Narendra Modi and many others heaped praises using superlative words and expressions. In return, the outgoing president heaped his share of praises on them. I never believed in farewell parties. Most often than not, it turns out to be a charade. People don't mean one word of what they say. All you can see is the relief oozing from their faces and expressions that say "oh, at last that day has come, finally he is leaving, for good!". In the coming days, we may even start reading about the wrongs committed by the predecessor that are now being corrected by the incumbent.

Now, onward to the next election. In all probability "Ushapathi" Venkaiah Naidu will be the next "Upa Rashtrapathi". You know it, I know it, everybody knows it. He has already declared that he does not belong to any party. He has even condemned and warned Pakistan to remember the beatings they got some years ago. Yet, we have to go though the motions, the rituals. After that, we have many more elections to be conducted, many more election speeches to hear, revival of many more hateful rhetoric, and many more election results to get excited about. There is lots of work to be done, many more states to be won, many more civic bodies to be won. Loads and loads of history to be rewritten. 

Until then, the country will wait, patiently, hopefully. In all probability, there may even be many more hateful and communal incidences but nothing to be alarmed about, we can handle it, we have learned to live with it.

Life will go on, one way or another, with or without the politicians. We have plenty of diversions to keep us busy, overrated film stars, over glorified cricketers, meaningless film songs, mindless TV serials, TV debates and unlimited dose of reality shows, and of course we have the social media (war of words, abusive posts, posting of fake news, sharing of fake news, following the celebrities). Let the politicians decide what is good for us and our generations to come. After all, we have elected them, haven't we!

Experience doesn't seem to teach us any lesson, election after election, we vote, hoping, "now there is a glimmer of hope, here is a politician of substance, honesty and integrity, someone worthy of holding the high office". With time, the realization dawns, albeit too late, that the politician turns out to be no better than Clean Sweep Ignatius (a character from one of Jeffrey Archer's short story collections). 

It ends up in disappointment at the realization that, they are all the same, some worse than the other. They may claim to have different ideologies and better intentions than the others, but deep down, they are all made up of the same fiber, the same core.

We will continue to hear and read news about criminals, fraudsters, rapists. There will be lot of buzz and debates on prime time. Everything may clearly point to their guilt, but suddenly everything will go quiet, sometimes for zillions of years. It may even turn out that they were innocent. Either they become invisible from scene of crime or someone else has committed the crime by using their name/identity or somebody has hacked into their social media account or someone has tried to frame them. What is more, some of them may even become face of some initiative or the other.

However depressing and disappointing things may turn out to be, we will still keep hoping for better times that will really make us feel proud of the society we are living in. After all, hope is the one thing that keeps mankind alive! So, let us keep our fingers crossed and hope for better times.

Corporate Culture

It was a firsthand experience for me of how corporate culture flows from top to the very bottom of the organization structure, how the person in the lowest rung of the organization hierarchy is the best evidence of the policies an organization sets and the values it upholds.

It was one of those regular pleasant rituals of weekend shopping. After finishing my shopping at the mall, on my way back I stopped at a filling station to refill petrol in my car. As the fuel meter started rolling, I reached for my wallet in the trouser back pocket. I got a jolt on realizing that the pocket was empty, there was no wallet. I checked my other pockets, still no wallet. 

I got down from the car in desperation, checked under the car seats, but no sign of my wallet. I checked the car boot, searched through the shopping bags one by one, still no sign of my wallet. As I checked my pockets again, I felt a rustle of paper in one of my side pockets. There was some currency along with the bill I had settled at the shopping mall. I sensed a momentary relief at being saved from the embarrassment of facing the fuel station attendant with no cash or card to pay for the fuel. 

I was still dazed and reeling from the shock of not finding my wallet. It was not just the cash I was worried about. All my important stuff were in the wallet, my driving license, credit card, debit cards, more importantly, my residence card (work permit).  I knew very well what happens to expatriates who are by bad luck caught without legal documents in an alien land. 

I quickly paid up for the fuel and started driving back to the shopping mall, analyzing the situation. If there was cash in my pocket along with the bill, I did take out my wallet for settling the bill. Then the only explanation for the missing wallet was,  either I left it at the cash counter while putting the shopping items into the shopping bags or I might have placed it in the shopping cart while loading the shopping bags into the car boot. 

As I reached the mall, I found the parking lot where I had parked my car earlier and looked for the shopping cart. There were a couple of carts, but I did not find my wallet in any of them. I quickly rushed to the cash counter where I had earlier settled the bill. The cashier was busy billing a customer. The uniformed mall porter was busy putting stuff into shopping bags. He looked at my flushed face and with a smile said "You must be looking for your wallet. Please contact customer service". I felt a sense of relief run through the whole of my body. I felt like a drowning person who had been thrown a life line. I said a thanks but only a mumble came out of my mouth as it was dry with the shock that I had endured. 

I rushed to the customer service counter and I started mumbling "I lost my wallet...". Even before I could finish the sentence, the customer service staff asked me for my name. As I mentioned my name, he took out my wallet from under the counter, took out my residence card, verified my name and my picture, and returned my wallet to me. That is all it took, for the entire grueling, nerve racking episode to culminate into an unbelievable relief. 

I put the wallet into my pocket, and as I walked towards my car, thanking my stars, cursing my carelessness, I saw the same porter collecting empty shopping carts from the parking lot. With the same jolly smile on his face, he asked me if I got my wallet back. I said "Yes, I got it back. Actually I was quite worried wondering if I had left it in the shopping cart".  I was in an elated, thankful, and generous mood. So I took out some cash from my wallet to give it to the porter. He refused to take it. 

What he said next really bowled me over "Not only in the shopping cart, wherever a you lose your personal belonging within the complex of the mall, you will get it back. This is the policy of our mall. Our bosses remind us again and again that we have our jobs because of customers like you. Even if one customer stops coming to the mall due to such reason as losing their personal belonging, it is not good for the business. We make sure such a thing doesn't happen". 

I was amazed, stunned beyond words, listening to the simple, humble porter. He was a true reflection of the culture of his organization. Yes, the policies the top management makes trickles down to every worker to the very last rung of organizational hierarchy.

I had experienced this wonderful display of corporate culture, the business ethics, at Ruwi branch of Lulu Hyper Market in Oman. 

Now, I keep wondering if such a thing was possible in India too! Would I have got back my wallet intact!! I really wonder!!!