We hate politics, we love Bollywood and we are Indians – and emotional Indian at that (atleast I can say that for me.)
The recent death of Andhra Pradesh CM was indeed a tragic event. However what is more striking is the immediate succession drama that happened. The top choice ‘by the people’ for the next CM’s job is none other than CM’s son. I guess that’s the propensity of us Indians!
Take a look at Ranbir Kapoor in his debut ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’ dancing to the same tunes as his dad, Rishi Kapoor in yester years (well, except the towel dropping!!)
Somehow, we have almost accepted the hereditary entitlement of the children of Bollywood stars and politician’s sons, daughters and even daughter in laws in some cases.
I have no view on the choice of CM nor am I an expert in bollywood masala. However, it’s pretty difficult for me to acknowledge this general phenomenon on how some of the most important titles of the country are handed over based on lineage more than calibre. Sadly, this is an unpalatable truth of the Indian top soil. We just don’t have the right mechanism to get the right people on top. So I am asking -
Why are we like this?
Why do we accept this in the first place?
Why do we have no objection over electing of a politicians son to become the next leader?
Why we don’t have much power in our hands to accept or reject a new upcoming bollywood superstar kid?
And here’s my 2 cents on it-
We Indians are emotional people. Sorry for stereotyping but most of the decisions are taken irrationally. We are fond of Big B so we must give chance to Junior B, no matter how many flops he delivered - he is still supposed to have the same amount of talent as Amitabh Bacchan. It doesn’t matter as much on the screen as it does while choosing a public figure. People are clamouring for Jaganmohan’s anointment out of overflowing emotions.
On a different note, not that all people with lineage will not be able to handle their titles - take an instance of Rahul Gandhi. He is doing a good job. He is patient, a good speaker, connects with the masses and most importantly he didn’t jump to grab that position. I guess that’s why we voted him. Hence, our votes should be an important choice for the country, not an expression of love or otherwise be prepared to see many more Govindas contesting elections following their downfall, gathering enough votes out of peoples love and affection (and how can anyone love someone with yellow pants anyways – that’s another question!!).
Secondly, there is lack of institutions to groom political talent. Leave aside education, political parties have no methods of taking in bright young Indians, conducting training programme (and here we are, slogging our asses off in classrooms to be just ‘good earning citizens’).So what do they do, they take help from Bollywood – how – here’s how – they get some charismatic personalities or wait for Big B or either of the Khans to join the party and show the same Jalwa in running a state as they showcase on screen. If it doesn’t happen they look for their clones in their family that is so crap in my opinion.
Lastly, we lack the understanding of political jargons like - 'by the people', 'for the people'. So in this scenario, we look up our geriatric political leaders who have traditionally dominated Indian politics as kings and their little princes to be the next in line.
Same to same in aka Bollywood - Abhishek Bachan attended a press conference, and when asked about Jaya Bacchan sharing the same screen space with him, instantly the reply came, ‘my mother is retiring so she would be joining politics’ with Amar Singh jumping out of joy and tears flowing down from the corner of his eyes. Huh!!
I must say a peculiar aspect of Indian democracy: Prevalence of Dynasty.
If we as students exercise our so called ‘democratic rights’ and caste our next vote with a little more attention, we can atleast make a small difference. Meanwhile the princes should learn the lesson from bollywood. Like Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Kajol, Ranbir, Sonam, all tasting success just because they performed. Mithun da’s son (and he should thank him for that) managed to do one movie but just disappeared after that (thank you ji but no thanks!) Your pedigree may have given you a break, but you still need to perform. Somebody has made you a prince but to stay right up there and become a hero, you need to become a leader.
The lights and cameras are on you, so let’s see if you can deliver. Action!!
