Author: Shobhaa De
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 1, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/798236.cms
Manmohan Singh confuses me completely.
Yes, I know he wears a trademark blue turban, is an economist par excellence,
speaks softly and wields a big stick. Oh yes, he's also the Prime Minister
of India.
Don't look so surprised. He really
is. No, I'm not making a mistake. Ask anybody. Well, actually, don't. Thousands
and millions of Indians may not believe it.
But the fact of the matter is that
the very same gentle-man who won our hearts years ago, as a brilliant if
self-effacing Finance minister, is today the faceless, almost voiceless
leader of our gigantic country.
But so modest is he, that unless
we are reminded, we forget who the asli PM really is. At least, on paper.
It's a pleasant change to have someone
like that in the hot seat. After all, what's the point of elections and
calling ourselves the world's largest working democracy, if the PM behaves
like a Maharaja from our history.
We've had self-appointed emperors
and empresses in the past, and look where that got us. People laughed at
our non-royal 'royals', who lived with more pomp and ceremony than the
real 'blue bloods' in Britain. We overlooked all that and put it down to
a colonial hangover.
But our Manmohan Singh is different.
He wants to be one of the masses. And he is certainly sending out all the
right signals. What can he do if his cabinet colleagues cannot shake off
long-ingrained habits.
Didn't he tell them not to line
up at the airport like well-scrubbed school kids during inspection hour?
Yet, there they were, when our no-fuss Pradhan Mantri left on his first
foreign junket, errr, official visit, as Prime Minister. Why, he was even
presented a long-stemmed red rose by the... by the...ummm... Empress herself.
What's the bet, the red rose will
now replace those hideous bouquets, as a statement of style in political
circles?
Finally, ghastly garlands of obscene
dimensions will disappear from view, now that the elegance of a red rose
has been firmly registered, by someone who definitely knows a thing or
two about such symbolism (she isn't Jawaharlal Nehru's grand daughter-in-law
for nothing.)
Our Super PM said it with a rose.
Nice. And our nice guy PM has promised to take a "hard look" at all proposed
Free Trade Agreements at the BIMST-EC Summit in Bangkok. Very nice.
Maybe, Manmohanji will also "revisit
the numbers," as his able Finance Minister has promised to do in another
context. Actually, there are lots and lots of numbers worth revisiting
in India. Numbers that shock the watching world. Most of them have nothing
to do with Free Trade and deal with tragic deaths of farmers, children,
women.
While we appreciate our PM's down
to earth approach (he actually asked for his airline tickets and foreign
exchange allowance!) and sincere attempts at living the simple, honest
life, what he really needs to do is assert himself and let his countrymen
know who's the boss. As of now, nobody is willing to accept that Manmohan
Singh is in charge or will be calling the shots. He has got himself into
bit of a spot there. Maybe the guys who came up with that wonderful advertising
campaign for Rahul Dravid, can help out our PM too.
"People say I'm a real gentleman.
But that doesn't stop me from whacking the ball really hard," asserts Dravid.
Next shot: "You mess with India and you mess with me."
Oooh! Strong stuff. Similarly, sweet
Manmohan Singh needs to bare his teeth a bit and put the bite back into
the PM's exalted position. Enough of being Mr Mild Singh. We really shouldn't
be telling him this, but do we have a choice?
Will the real Prime Minister please
stand up and be counted.
