By H. H. Mohrmen
We have often heard about the American dream; that America has a place for anyone who has a dream or dreams big. Wikipedia defines the American Dream as a national ethos of the United States, a set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and ,success, and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, he said, “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. The idea of the American Dream is rooted in the United States Declaration of Independence which proclaims that “all men are created equal” and that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I had never joined any political party and have no intention to do so in the near future and I am not endorsing Narendra Modi either, but I must admit that by sharing his humble beginning with the people he had struck a chord with many in this country. The humble origin story can be an election gimmick but it is also a fact that it has become a source of inspiration for many young and not so young people who had a humble beginning and yet aspire to achieve sometime big in the future. Narendra Modi’s story of a man who started as a tea seller and hopes to attain the office of the Prime Minister could very well be the beginning of that Indian dream.
When I was a kid, our parents had a tea shop in Iawmusiang, Jowai and we did help our family to sell tea from one shop to another. Therefore like many others, when Modi shared that story, I felt included and realized that there were many who were not born with a silver spoon but by dint of hard work strove to do something in the society. I am sure that there are hundreds and thousands of Indians who had this same experience and who deep in their hearts believe that they have a rightful place in the Sun and look forward for that day to come. Therefore, I believe that not only a son of a tea seller, a son of a gardener (mali) or a son of a coolie can be a Prime Minister but a daughter of a safaiwallah, hijjra, gay, lesbians or even a daughter of a sex worker can be the PM of the country. So when Many Shanker Aiyar made his diatribe recently at the AICC conference in New Delhi and said, “I promise you in 21st Century Narendra Modi will never become the Prime Minister of the country…but if he wants to distribute tea here (AICC Conference), we will find a place for him…” it was disgusting to say the least. The statement was not only in bad taste but it also proved what people has been saying all along that dynastic politics is not going to do the Congress any good. Because of the hereditary leadership in the Congress, nobody can have a dream to become PM even if you are good and educated like Aiyar. So any leader will try his all out effort to go to any extent to please the leadership. This adulation is but an effort to patronize the leader. Of course many and even leaders of the Congress disapproved of Mani Shanker Aiyar’s diatribe against Modi but the fact of the matter is, the statement only brought to light the discontent in the party because nobody can become a leader in the Congress as long as we have somebody from the Nehru-Gandhi family interested in politics.
Modi being proud of his humble origin gives hope to many people who had a humble beginning, to aspire and give their hundred percent to reach their goal and literarily everybody has a dream. This only reminds me of a short documentary on child labour in the coal mining areas in Jaintia hills (Coal Boy: Mind the Gap) made by a friend Chandra Shekhar Reddy which is available on the internet now. The character in the story (of a 5 minutes documentary) was a young Nepali boy who was born and brought up in the area and had lost both his parents. He had no education and his life revolved around the mines and the makeshift camp that became his home and everything that he had. But in spite of all these short comings the boy who barely venture beyond the camp and the coal mines still has a dream. He dreams that one day he will be able to dig deep into the ground till he reaches the other side and hope that beyond the dark tunnel there is light and there will be a future for him.
Dreamers have no place in the Congress. The party does not encourage leadership from the masses and this is also the major difference between the Congress and the other parties. In a dynastic party like the Congress even if one has foreign degrees like Mani Shanker Ayiar and hordes of other credentials, yet, their chances of leading the party are almost nil, so party workers will always try to please the leaders and Mani’s diatribe against Modi was intended to flatter Rahul. Mani has almost disappeared from the Congress party’s scene so the tirade was an opportunity to make him visible once again in the radar screen of the new leadership. This is the height of sycophancy.
In the Congress even if some in the party were allowed to be in the helm of affairs, the fact of the matter is that the centre of power will always remain with the members of the dynasty. The case in point is the sharing of power between the President of the Congress and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the UPA government. So even if Congress leaders even hold a position in the government or the party, it is still the member of the family who holds the string.
Having said so much about Narendra Modi and his humble beginnings, the fact remains that Modi is a controversial Chief Minister of Gujarat. Even if the court has absolved all the charges against him in the 2002 riots, yet it will remain a blot on his political career. Modi may not have been involved in the communal flare-up after the Sabarmati express was torched, yet he has failed in his duty as the Chief Minister of Gujarat to protect the lives and property of the minorities in his state. Even if Modi becomes the Prime Minister of the country, he will not be able to erase the Godhra riot of 2002 from the history of the state.
But above all, giving the devil his due, even if Modi is defeated and fails in his effort to become the Prime Minister of the country, by sharing his humble origins with the people of the country, he can be credited with the honour of being the person who introduced the Indian dream in the people’s psyche. By sowing the seeds of hope in the minds of the weak and marginalized people he had ignited the light of hope that no matter how difficult one’s life can be, anybody can become somebody in this country if one only works hard and give one’s best in what one do. It is good to have a dream rather than being a person whose dream is scuttled even before it started like those in the Congress party and to spend the rest of the time indulging in sycophancy.