I'm sure by now, no-one is a stranger to the financial turmoil the world is currently witnessing. How much of it is systemic and how much is caused by simple human vices like greed, corruption and dishonesty is anybody's guess.
In India, the last week saw the Government, who till date was going from scam-to-scam, announce a slew of reform measures. The response to this, as expected was agitation and allies of the Government pulling out in protest. In this hour of serious financial distress across the world, especially in India & the United States, what emerges is the paradoxically deviant approach to leadership adopted ironically, by two leaders, both of whom have been labelled as under-performers.
This thought got accentuated today morning, when, while reading my daily newspapers, I read the remarks of a feeble economist who finds himself leading a sixth of the world, more by default rather than by desire. The Indian PM invoked the economic crisis of 1991 and the benefits of the hard steps that the country had then taken with him as the finance minister.
In his statement, he says and I quote, "The last time we faced this problem was in 1991. Nobody was willing to lend us even small amounts of money then. We came out of that crisis by taking strong resolute steps. You can see the positive results of those steps. We are not in that situation today, but we must act before people lose confidence in our economy,"
This is a typical Indian political response, where a leader reminds people of a gloomier past to paint a less murky picture of the present. Future, however, features nowhere in the conversation. We specialize in fire-fighting the present by taking solace from the horrors of the past. We justify our current state of being by bench-marking it with a time when we were worse off.
Contrast this, to the messages which were and are being consciously and constantly being sent out by the Obama campaign. They speak of "Change" and "Hope". They seek to instill a certain degree of confidence in the average American psyche, that "Yes, we can" tide over this crisis together. While, I say this, I am conscious of the impending Presidential election and the mud-slinging that it brings along with it. Still, there is a certain degree of dignity and vision for the future which is constantly the cornerstone of any discussion.
The purpose of this rant, was not to demean a state or a leader nor even to glorify another. The aim was to highlight the alarming difference in the leadership style exhibited and accepted by different people in different nations. Eventually, the buck stops at us, the hoi polloi. Let us embrace a dialogue that revolves around our collective future by harnessing our collective wisdom. Let's not jump to petty ideological fences and shun the rigidity of thought. Let's stop promising, let's start doing!
You can read the detailed report on - Indian PM Manmohan Singh's address to the nation
Image Courtesy - Google Images
