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A Cleansing Moment

This to put it bluntly is the net result of assiduously avoiding a certain kind of debate since the debacle of 2009 in the fond hope that Power was just around the corner and fueled by the naive optimism that the Congress was just one election away from being voted out.

Neither has happened so far and the likelihood of that occurring anytime soon is slim if dodging that debate continues any longer.

In many ways this state of affairs reminds of “The Picture of Dorian Gray

The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is impressed by Dorian’s beauty and becomes infatuated with him, believing his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil’s, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry’s world view. Espousing a new hedonism, Lord Henry suggests the only things worth pursuing in life are beauty and fulfilment of the senses.

Realizing that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian (whimsically) expresses a desire to sell his soul to ensure aportrait Basil has painted would age rather than he. Dorian’s wish is fulfilled, and when he subsequently pursues a life of debauchery, the portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging

…..

Deciding that only full confession will absolve him, he decides to destroy the last vestige of his conscience. In a rage, he picks up the knife that killed Basil Hallward and plunges it into the painting. His servants wake hearing a cry from inside the locked room, and passers by on the street fetch the police. The servants find Dorian’s body, stabbed in the heart and suddenly aged, withered and horrible. It is only through the rings on his hand that the corpse can be identified. Beside him, however, the portrait has reverted to its original form.

Great debates are meant to produce both clarifying and cleansing moments. The Opportunity to grasp either or both is now, even if the Leadership is not up to it, the pressure from below it seems will explode it upon them sooner rather than later.

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Filed under: Advani Yatra against Corruption

Narendra Modi on the National Project to restore “Trust” – 2 must read Columns

Narendra Modi addressing the Gujarati Diaspora today struck an interesting theme on why “Trust” had become a rare commodity in our public life.

Two must read columns on why restoration of “Trust” at multiple levels must become front and center to the 2014 campaign.

“Trust” must become the overarching political narrative for 2014 – Column in Pioneer

 restoration of “Trust” within our public discourse will have to be the dominant political theme, the defining trait in the quest to discover the next Vajpayee

Trust is dangerously close to becoming extinct from our public space. We may regale ourselves over clever by half political games being played by our favored side little realizing that we are now collectively in a quicksand. It no longer matters who steps on whom, we are all set to sink.

Consensus needed for radical change cannot be negotiated in this environment of distrust.  The tune “Why this Kolaveri di” may have united a nation by capturing the sentiment of the moment. We are yet to see leadership emerge that can overcome this murderous rage of distrust.

Come 2014, far more than the arithmetic of feel-good acceptability in coalition politics, the dire need will be for Leadership that can inspire Trust across the many political fault-lines that have fragmented this nation.

How did we get into this hole and how do we get out of it – Column in Rediff

Every shortcut we take compromises a principle, corrodes an institution and sets a wrong precedent

Today there is an abject lack of faith in both the ability of the Constitution to be fair and in the integrity of our institutions to deliver. The lack of trust extends to political parties and their leadership. All discourse has become conspiratorial. All proposals and decisions have become suspect.

The stark reality is that today there is no credible leadership in Delhi that can honestly deliver this truth to the people while simultaneously inspiring trust and patience in a long drawn roadmap that can rid us of this malaise. That truth is also unpopular. We have exhausted the capacity of the Republic to apportion justice based on identity for perceived victimhood.

To get us out of this hole, calls for a rediscovery of trust. We need a leadership in Delhi that inspires trust and exudes trust. Leadership whose actions we can trust without always ascribing motives.

he Young American Republic had to wage its Dharma Yudh against just one front, slavery. The Young Indian Republic has to wage its Dharma Yudh on two fronts — against those are invested in the status quo and those who cannot resist the temptation for a shortcut.

Filed under: India Elections 2014, Narendra Modi, Neo Aspirational class, Neo Middle Class, New Middle Class, Offstumped, Trust

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