HOW POWERFUL ARE YOU ?

HOW FAR ARE YOU FROM POWER?

This morning I noticed a curious scene .A platoon of police motorcyclists was driving at a steady pace before a car with red lights on the top down a street in Chennai. . The car was occupied only by the uniformed driver and a policeman. I concluded that this was a practice session for the Republic day celebrations tomorrow The route was from the Chief Minister’s residence to the Marina beach where the march past takes place. At one point on this elaborate journey the entourage passed by a private car who was driving at cruising speed as is usual at that point in a road where there is a school. I then saw something that reaffirmed to me how feudal we are. The policeman in the official car blared out in impolite language to the private car to ‘ shove off’. I could not see who was in that car but it does not matter—I would have felt most upset at the rudeness with which the policeman tried to shoo away the car occupants. . Let me add that this is a routine event all over the country whenever ‘VIP movement ‘ takes place. Just last week a poor man on a bicycle was found crossing the road where the Tamilnadu CM was to travel ten minutes later. The police arrested him and soundly beat him up for ‘ violating security regulations’. The newspapers told us that this poor man was in a tearing hurry to inform his friend that the latter’s wife had suddenly developed labour pains and was being rushed to hospital. The poor cyclist waited for some time but not seeing any ‘VIP movement’ could not contain himself and made a dash across the road only to be roundly thrashed . Contrast this with the scene if the CM’s progeny were to be rushed to a hospital. The entire public would have to make way!

HOW FAR ARE YOU FROM POWER?

We are all aware of how on two occasions when the PM was to drive down a road an ambulance was detained for long leading to the death of two people.

Contrast this with what I saw in the US. A school bus halted at a roadside to let off children. The US Secretary Of State’s car was driving down that road in the opposite direction. It is the rule in the US that when a school bus stops to let kids out THE ENTIRE TRAFFIC IN BOTH DIRECTIONS GRINDS TO A HALT TILL THE BUS DRIVER PUTS ON THE GREEN LIGHT AFTER THE KDS HAVE CROSSED THE ROAD SAFELY. Mrs Clinton’s car was halted for a full five minutes!

On another occasion I was walking down a corridor talking to a Senator. I noticed a board that said ‘Do not use this path.Cleaning underway’. I halted but the senator continued .Guess what the janitor did? He simply pointed his finger at the sign board..The Senator got the message and back tracked saying ‘Sorry’.

The larger issue is that most of us feel totally out of control of our lives dominated as we are by a stifling socio- political-economic- caste leadership and a heartless bureaucracy. This has always been the state of affairs in our country and indeed in all developing countries. The details may vary but the overall content is the same all over the third world. That may account for excessive religiosity, superstition, belief in spirits, animism, rituals, village deities etc Since we are not in control over our future even in simple tasks we are left with no option but to throw up our hands and look to spirits ,deities etc for succour.

Sociologist Hoffstede has made a seminal study of over 3 dozen countries including India on such matters .India fares very poorly in many parameters including ‘Power distance’ a manifestation of which are the scenes I have listed above. The US is not really the best.

It helps to spend time abroad in developed countries where you learn not to throw any weight around. I remember talking to my friend Ajay Kaul on his return from a stint abroad. I told him in jest ‘ Hi Ajay, Looks like you have become a bada aadmi ‘ Prompt came the retort ‘Koi bada koi chota nahin hai ‘.

K.R.RAVI

WWW.KRRAVI.COM