The Lily Pad Effect

The Lilly Pad Effect.

-Uday Dandavate

Last night I was watching an interview of Arwind Kejriwal on Aaj Tak TV channel. The interviewer asked Arwind if he believed in God. Arwinds response was, In the past I did not, but now I do. When asked to explain what he meant, he elaborated, I was born in a religious family and as a child I did believe in god. When I went away to ITT Kanpur to study engineering, I developed a scientific temperament and as a result did not believe in God anymore. However, since the past two years, after I joined Anna Hazare as a volunteer in the Jan Lok Pal movement, I saw the massive response we received from ordinary people. I was amazed to find that people were coming out in large numbers to collectively fight corruption. That is when I started thinking that there must be a higher power, than the persuasion power of the activists who have been fighting for such causes for a long time- a power that has motivated an entire population to rise in unison. That is why I am beginning to believe that god must exist.

The essence of Kejriwals realization lies in the fact that a society resigned to corruption as a way of life, exploitation of the weaker sections of the society as a chronic ailment, and any given up hope of a better future as a worthless exercise, has today risen to collectively follow the path illuminated by their conscience.

Though India gained independence from British rule of 200 years, Gandhijis dream of grass root level activism and participatory democracy was put on back burner when India embraced the grandiose dreams of top down development, championed by Jawaharlal Nehru. The socialists led by Jayprakash Narayan, Basawan Singh, Achyutrao Patwardhan, Yusuf Meherally, Ram Manohar Lohia and others could see through congress partys opportunistic program and hollowness of Jawaharlal Nehrus vision and parted company with the congress

party. Mrs. Indira Gandhi carried forward her fathers pseudo socialism by indulging in gimmicks such as abolishing privy purses of former princely states, announcing nationalization of banks and promising eradication of poverty (Garibi Hatao) in her election campaigns. Indira converted the ideologically inspired congress party of pre-independence era into an instrument for perpetuating dynastic rule of Nehru Gandhi family. Gradually she cleansed the congress party of dissenting voices, and collected around her courtiers who would be willing to sing and dance to her tune. She installed people devoid of idealism, and bereft of pride in positions that were once occupied by great intellectuals and statesmen. She appointed as congress president, D.K. Barua, who pronounced, Indira is India. She appointed Giani Zail Singh as Congress partys nominee for the election of the President of India, who upon being nominated, pronounced, If I am instructed by Mrs. Gandhi, I would even take up a broom and sweep the floor for her. While the Gandhi family continued the task of consolidating power, and turning leaders into sycophants, corruption crept deep into the fabric of a nation that was once inspired by the dreams of Swaraj. Increasing cost of election campaigns became the primary cause of corruption focus of governance turned to building an infrastructure for financing elections. Election campaigns are now fought at a scale that would dwarf marketing campaigns of global corporations. Through successive generations of Gandhi family rule Indias conscience was subjugated to a new culture of sycophancy and deal making. It appeared that the hope of Swaraj was lost forever.

Peoples hopes for a corruption free society were rekindled from time to time. In 1970s Jayprakash Narayan brought hopes to India with his call for total revolution, in 1980s V.P. Singh and NTR captured the imagination of India with the promise of building a corruption free India in the aftermath of the Bofors scandal.

During 1990s the BJP fed Indias craving for a homegrown ideology by promoting the idea of Hindu Nationalism. Ram Janmabhoomi movement, Demolition of the Babri Masjid, and communal riots in the state of Gujarat catalyzed a new sense of religious chauvinism amongst Hindus. With the congress party championing free market economy and the BJPs prescription of Hindu Nationalism, progressive Indians who dreamt of India becoming a social democracy wedded to the principles of secularism and social justice received a set back during 1990s and 2000s. Both the congress party and the BJP helped build a consumer culture and through fierce competition for power with each other turned election process into a competition for market domination funded by big money. People began to realize that like Coke and Pepsi, there wasnt really a big difference between the congresses and the BJP except the marketing messages being projected by them. At the core they were both instruments of promoting unchecked capitalism.

The past two years, as Arwind Kejriwal correctly observed during his interview, have witnessed an upsurge of spontaneous protests against corruption amongst Indian masses. Today we are witnessing a Lilly pad effect of conscience reached after years of simmering of discontent. Water lilies tend to grow exponentially. During initial phases of growth they may appear as slowly growing patches on the surface of water. However as their grown picks up, suddenly one day they occupy the entire surface of water. That is what has happened with Indias conscience- the exponential growth has now taken on a new form. To my mind, what Arwind perceives as gods gift is the natural and inevitable lily pad effect.

Today India stands at a crossroad. The lily pad effect provides a perfect opportunity to experiment with participatory democracy by harnessing the competencies of large communities of people eager to participate in the political process. During recent elections to the Delhi assembly, hundreds of youth from around India and around the world gave up their careers to come and join the

AAP campaign for ushering in a new model of democracy and for conceptualizing innovative and disruptive mechanism for citizens direct participation in governance. This enthusiasm needs to be sustained and their talent needs to be directed towards building instruments of citizen and government interface that allow the leaders of the government to build with the imagination of citizens. I believe such a participatory approach will make governance more transparent, and planning for a better future more in sync with the needs of real people. The lily pad effect has revived Arwind Kejriwals belief in god; it has reaffirmed my faith in the power of co-creation.