Latakte limbu aur mirchi kare Liberals ka dil khata aur dimag garam

We Indians are the only ones that make fun of our own ancient traditions. 

And even as we laugh say at a tradition, we are not free from it totally i.e.  we too may have our own other tradition fetish - our hypocrisy is fully intact !

Recently I came across a photo of limbu aur mirchi hanging on the Rafael jet with a mocking comment - now we're truly secure.

So if I ask a group of Indians - how silly is the limbu and mirchi?...many will raise their hands. 

And then if I dare ask the same  group of Indians - how intelligent is it to get the Ganpati idol home, only to immerse it in the sea a few days later? ... many will raise their hands ... to slap me into shutting up.

Why can't the Liberals simply celebrate the fact that the latest jet is far more advanced than anything what China or Pakistan owns?

Every culture, no matter how young, soon establishes it's traditions.

The excessive consumption of or the presidential pardon to turkeys at Thanksgiving or the Pumpkin sculpting at Halloween, etc. are examples traditions of a young country like America.

Most may not know, but as the wild wild West was conquered on horsebacks, the American's companionship with horses, turned to a tradition based relationship. 

Over the years, that animal has earned a special place in their psyche, no different than the cow in India. 

That has ensured that commercial horse slaughtering or horse meat sales is banned across America ! 

The right to bear arms also emanates from that era !

Interestingly, those in favor of continuing the practice of triple talaq had cited it's tradition value during defense. 

So it's a worthy ponder, what good are traditions? 

Traditions by themselves don't do anything at one level except for argument sake, offer restrictions or unnecessary inconveniencing rituals. 

And yet on the other side it gives one pride & connect to one's past, a sense of belonging in the present day and continuity into the future - the essence of human race, its survival & inspiration to thrive in unity or as a community.

Abandoning traditions reduces bonding amongst people. 

Without a deep tradition, one is a, if I may - a kati patang.

Gandhi ji who had opposed the tradition of the practice of sati and untouchability, was himself a super traditionalist. 

He had pushed for a philosophy that spelled out - each one must always swim with ( & not against ) currents of his or her tradition, so long as one doesn't drown in it !

Thus, I am not for once saying all practices or traditions are good, sure reform is needed. 

However, it is only traditions that keeps a unit of people closely intact & content.

So we must think twice before diluting it or even laughing at it.

Cult Leadership - that's all? !

Wisdom has many definitions. It is also belief & behavior alignment; knowledge in action.

Else it's just a racket in the mind.

The racket is - my knowledge is working even if untested or my belief is aligned to my behavior. 

Since inception of the country and before, each & everyone believed that we need a swachha Bharat. Every government had knowledge of it.

One man "wisdomed" it into action & put up a live dashboard on the internet to monitor the progress. Finding no major faults besides the initial teething troubles, he was accused by a principle opposition party that - it's their idea !

Among the many accusations that Modi has endured, the one that stand out are things like - he's a one-man-band and destroyed the collective opposition. 

He has just made himself a cult figure, that's all !

That's all? Really?

I have been a student of leadership.

The accusation is a mere belief at best or a 2nd hand knowledge - no different than the ghost somebody else has supposedly seen. 

Repeat : Wisdom is belief & behavior in alignment;  knowledge in action.

The wisdom is inferring from what's really visible 1st hand and the results thereof - action 101.

I can earn a standing ovation by giving a speech based on my knowledge on how to become a leader - trust me, I've wisdomed it. 

But becoming a leader - it's my perpetual quandary, a forever WIP.

Cult leadership - is the subject way beyond leadership.

Leaders need people.

But people need a cult leader !

You have to work on the former, the latter is self propelling, until the subject himself or herself begin to break the propeller blades. 

So, how does a supposed one-man-band destroy a coalesced army? And that too so badly, that his very duty becomes an accusation by his detractors? 

Is Modi expected to really feed, nurture & keep alive the Indian National Congress or their UPA supporters, including regional parties? 

Coming back, cult leadership is about leaving everyone far below. The art is beyond image management Guru's domain. 

More so in a democracy where the media is hostile, opposition is alert, the stand-up comedian is ready to twist & poke, the cartoonist ready to caricature and people have a smart phone at their disposal to vent. 

So again, how does one do that cult thingee? And that too across the world to include even the Indian diaspora? 

Can it ever be subcontracted? Can it be faked? 

It's a worthy ponder. 

But when one is there, what happens?

Let us wisdom-test it.

It is said that character is what you do, when nobody is looking. Putting it alternatively, it is what you do irrespective, for you give a damn who's looking. 

Once you are up there as a cult leader, in the stratosphere - you are invisible to the crowd & the crowds are invisible to you. And you can do what you want. 

At that stage, the emperor may as well have no clothes. 

That's when character is put test. The poor charactered one starts servicing self. 

For the most difficult tasks, namely the supposedly hunger striking DeMo & the extended Lockdowns - enough to expose that it's only a sheen and not a self emitting shine, the Modi-man talked directly to the people at prime time on national television. 

The character was put to test. 

I think both DeMo & Lockdowns were enough to make him fall crashing back to the earth.

This is the exact divide - is it bravery for India's sake or recklessness for sheer want of testing of one's power? 

May the debate never abate !

The right Trump card played by the wrong hand

Mr. Trump is not a status quoist - the weight of the presidential chair is not on him, it's t​​he other way around.

Finally, the American people have a President - one who is not crushing under the burden of the system. 

And the President is certainly dismantling not just the American, but the entire global order & economic structure, as we know it. 

His destination is not in doubt, what's at question is the road he's chosen to reach the end. 

So what went wrong?

Language (spoken, including the unsaid) is a testimony of character. 

What Trump's utterances seem to convey, is that - he'll make America Great but the prerequisite for that is, you must accept : He's Great ... first !

For evidence, he points at his own past. 

His past tells us that it's okay to run a few businesses to the ground before you make it big. It's okay to wreck a few marriages before you get a "perfect" one. 

And so his causation is - bad behaviour, as that leads to great achievement. 

The gurus preach - the path to success is not easy, it's Okay to fail on the way but it's not Okay to give up. 

Well, when Trump hears them, he just reduces them to cheerleaders with pompoms. 

And so, Trump does not enroll, nor convinces, he blazes on with an agenda to conquer. 

He's a classic case of one being - totally right but completely inappropriate. 

As he goes about scripting America's future, he forgets that unlike his own personal business or marriage, here it's not even his own chair that he sits on with the full weight of both - his heavy bodied self & memories of his supposedly brilliant past.

Someone needs to tell him just that, else when the election music stops, he’ll find somebody else sitting on the same chair !