End of an Era!

This man Manmohan Singh is one of my heroes of early young days. Today, when he leaves office as the 13th PM of India, I feel compelled to pay him my tributes.

India is going to have its new PM in a few days' time; but this man deserves a good farewell. I appreciate the fact that BJP leader Arun Jaitley found time to write a piece on him; pretty good assessment of his contribution to India.

I started studying Economics in 1993, just after he became the Finance Minister for the first time in 1991, a watershed year in India's economic history. The path-breaking step of 'liberalization' launched India into a trajectory from which we never came down. The same year I won an award for writing a seminar paper on 'liberalization of Indian economy' and MMS became my inspiration, my HERO.

Looking back at his career, one can see what a brilliant and outstanding career he has had....few in the world can boast of such accomplishments; that's why it's no wonder why the world listens to him when he speaks. Just a few highlights to make the point:

• Education: Cambridge
• Served at United Nations
• Chief Economic Advisor (GoI)
• Governor, Reserve Bank of India
• D.Chairperson, Planning Commission
• Finance Minister, GoI
• Leader of opposition Rajya Sabha
• Prime Minister, India

(Wow.....Man! You have done everything in a career spanning almost 50 years!!! Along the way, you also have shown incredible personal integrity in public life; a lot of our political leaders of today can learn from you.)

It's only for the last few years that he has been much criticized. The last few years have been really bad for him; he could have taken much more proactive stance on crucial occasions rather than being mute spectator to the misdeeds.

I am of the opinion that no Technocrat without a mass support of the people should be the PM of India. But we can not fault him for taking up the challenge! We must remember that it was he who was the PM of UPA-1 and was re-elected to the office! So, he must have done something good as PM. The last few years can be excused in a long illustrious career and his contributions to the India growth story.

We wish you the best for the rest of your life, Sir!

Modi’s time has come

The writing is on the wall- Narendra Modi is going to be the next Prime Minister of India. He has proved to be a leader who can galvanize popular support quite quickly. He has led the aspirations of the majority in Gujarat for some time now and a large number of people (at least the middle class) elsewhere in the country have shown faith in him. In a country doing badly on economic front at the moment, he represents ‘hope’ of millions. Congress will come down to two-digits and AAP is not quite there; third front, as always will just be in the ‘also ran’ category. So, Modi’s time has truly come. However, there lies my concerns.

1. Modi has all the traits of Indira Gandhi (if not a Hitler), who subverted democratic systems and undermined individual freedom. He is authoritarian and deals with aggression any dissenting voice. He can be even dangerous than Indira. I hope my fears will be proven wrong in the long run.

2.  Modi’s developmental propaganda is only a rhetoric. He has been able to maintain Gujarat as a developed state, but Gujarat has not moved ahead among the top performing states in his time. Gujarat has always been a developed state, since time immemorial. Once upon a time Ahmedabad was called the ‘Manchester’ of the east. So, Gujarat’s development is because of its entrepreneurial people, not the political leaders- not in the past, not now. I hope he can set a development agenda for the country and deliver too.

3. Modi's record of governance in terms of corruption is not bad- but if 'governance' also includes living up to the expectations of the minority communities, he fails miserably. The Supreme Court's acquittal in the riots case not-withstanding, the minorities still feel insecure under him. Somehow, he and BJP have to reach out to the minorities and make them feel safe and cared for. The idea of India is not based on a 'one faith' model; India is pluralistic and Mr. Modi has to uphold that. If he can do this, it would be good enough as there is hardly any other major difference between BJP and Congress. Let's hope Modi will be a leader for all, and not just the majority community.

Why I love Gandhi

Yesterday was the 140th birth anniversary of Gandhi, the man of the twentieth century. In course of time, he has become an institution..... he has inspired whole generations and modern nation states altogether.

My love of Gandhi statrted some time when I was in college and I read his autobiography- "The Story of My Experiments with Truth". Over the years on many an occasion, his words have helped me take good decisions and make my life better. It's not that I do not disagree with his ideas ever; on many points I have different opinions, especially regarding his views on Economics. But I am sure even those are based on strong propositions.

Indeed, it's impossible to capture him in an article (or even in a book), but when I think of him, five distinct points come to my mind:

1. He was the symbol of freedom and fight against injustice
2. His compassion and love for the humanity
3. His strength of conviction and how he followed it up with devotion
4. He pioneered the use of 'non-violence' and 'truth' as political weapons
5. His belief of primacy of 'means' over 'ends'

Gandhi represented humanity and not only India/Indians. He led a very simple life, but always stood by what he said or believed.

Albert Einstein was right when he said: "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."