Our Politicians are Mandated

For over a decade, we have been watching politicians deliver their speeches, promises, vent their ires and also speak their lies. We have also seen the top political journalists host shows trying to pitch one politician or his party with the other and the whole nation watches the fun. We have been a very encouraging audience to all the mudslinging which is why these shows have been successfully running even after a decade.

Little do we think and feel about India’s politicians.

From my childhood, I have seen politicians in only one light…

Politicians are people who become rich quickly robbing our taxes and own luxurious villas and vehicles

Politicians are people who demand respect from society and they are a nuisance at times

Politicians lack the empathy about our nation and they are here to loot our wealth and store it away in some Swiss Bank Locker.

…

And I know, I am not at all wrong and also that I am not a lone thinker of this sort! This thought is in the collective consciousness. Almost everyone is thinking this way.

Arvind Kejriwal made a difference. And before you feed your sprouting thought, let me tell you, this article is not about Arvind Kejriwal or Narendra Modi.

This article is about us and the politicians we have chosen.

I am sitting at the Hyderabad Airport waiting to board the flight to Bangalore. The television screen at a distance is beaming a debate on the Malegaon Incident. The debate is heating up into an argument and the host of the event is supposedly opening a hornet’s nest. None of the people present here are anymore interested in watching this show. May be, people in their homes are glued to their television sets as do many arm chair patriots who bad mouth our country and the politicians they have chosen.

Do we care about politicians?

Why this article?

I have come to the realisation that we have chosen the politicians who are managing our country. This is not funny. We need to realise it for all the good reasons.

What does this mean to you and me?

We, the people have a mandate. A mandate is an authority that a person or an office seeks from people to perform a service on our behalf without payment from the people, which is us.

The Indian Constitution was written so the people we choose, to govern our country work with some principles. These principles apply not only to the people we choose, but to all the citizens of this country whether literate or illiterate, man or woman, adult and infant.

And, more importantly, we have authorised the politicians to speak on our behalf. Which means, whatever they speak in public, which is considered for the record, is something you are okay with.

You are okay with it because, you choose to listen and do nothing about it.

If you care, we need to remind ourselves that our politicians are mandated. This means, they will only speak and act according to the mandate that they have sought from us.

If not, we have the collective legal and moral responsibility to replace the politician representing us.

Before every election, every political party publishes an election manifesto. We, the people of India, need to read the election manifesto so we know which party will carry our common mandate forward.

How many of us have read the election manifesto of any party? We are disinterested, not involved and non-participative.

If a party comes to power because you voted for it, and if the election manifesto carried programmes which are not in favour of the common people, which you are unaware of, because you never read it, who is responsible?

Further, will you then cry foul?

Wake up citizens!

With every election, comes the election manifesto of the parties. We need to address the common need of the people of India and not of some day dreaming politician who wants to realise his personal dreams and aspirations.

It is because of our laziness that our politicians have begun calling themselves leaders. We have no leaders, we only have representatives. They are representing the people who elected them, who’s mandate they are carrying forward.

Our Prime Minister is our Chief Administrator. He oversees the functioning of our Chief Ministers (Administrators of States). Our CM’s oversee the administration of the corporators and other elected members. They are all mandated.

The overall objective is just one… To carry our mandate forward for due implementation in the highest and best way.

So, here is a suggestion.

Let us draft a common manifesto for our community, district, town, city, state and country. The party that is elected to govern our community or the country have a mandate to follow. Our mandate.

We are responsible for our country. Let us not blame our politicians. We have given our country away to them without a mandate.

Let’s wake up and hold the reins of our representatives who have been running a free ride. Let’s come together. Today is the day, now is the time.

Next steps…

— Mahesh Krishnamurthy

A system designed for complaints

The streets in Bangalore can get very crowded and can make you think twice before taking your car out. Gone are those days when streets used to be empty and we, as kids, used the street as a cricket pitch. We'd quickly form teams and place a wooden plank with brick support for stumps and another brick at the other end of the pitch.

I was driving on a particular street in Bangalore a few years ago. And, it was a crowded street. I was following a taxi which was hired by a software company. In the rear windscreen of the taxi was a sticker which read; For rash driving complaints call xxxxxxxxxx.

However, I saw this taxi driver was very good in driving, slowing down to let pedestrians cross and also speed up when required. He seemed to be an uncommon breed, a sane, well mannered taxi driver with a good road sense.

I was so inspired by his driving that I decided to call the number and ask the company to compliment the driver.

So, I memorised the number. At a convenient place, I pulled over, parked the car and called the number. The voice on the other side seemed to be an English speaking Indian security guard. He asked me why I was calling.

I told him that the car number KA-xx-xxxx was driving very well and asked if there was a system in place to complement the driver for good driving!

The person on the other end of the line did not know how to receive my communication. He hesitantly said ok and put the phone down.

What is our system designed for?

Are we here only to complain and not complement?

We need a change in our very outlook. It seems we are not divided on caste anymore. We are divided on the kind of work we do. This is not racism. Its close to untouchability, I fear.

Let's wake up before the system cracks up turning us upside down and getting some unfamiliar force to sit upon us and rule us once more. And it could well be one amongst us whom we will not be able to recognise.

-- Mahesh Krishnamurthy

The Journey: What does it mean to surrender to God?

The Journey: What does it mean to surrender to God?: The word surrender seems very powerful. Surrender, a word that brings with it the power to take away what is yours and leaves you with noth...

What does it mean to surrender to God?

The word surrender seems very powerful. Surrender, a word that brings with it the power to take away what is yours and leaves you with nothing at all. And what can be worse? That you now belong to someone else. You are enslaved.

And the fear is, when that someone can use what once belonged to you, against you.

So, if surrender is such a horrible thing to happen to you, then how can you surrender to God?

In the Hindu scriptures God is defined so you know what God is before you surrender. God is defined as the trinity... Agni (fire who signifies all transformation on Earth), Indra (who signifies the skies that bring rain and wind) and Surya (who signifies the light that brings growth and abundance).

The trinity are only known to bestow abundance to all of nature's creations on the earth of which Man is also one and not to take anything away.

So, coming back to surrender, if you surrender to God, you are not in trouble, but allow Agni, Indra and Surya to nurture, nourish and sustain you.

Now the question is how do you surrender? And more importantly, what do you surrender?

To answer this question, you need to go back to your beginning, when you began perceiving the world around you.

The centre of your forehead holds the seat of your perception and also the pituitary gland. When you perceive, through your senses, you perceive through the space in the centre of your forehead. With your perception, you are creating a new Universe. A Universe in which you have created your alternate reality, the way you perceived it. And you began perceiving when in your mother's womb. The Pituitary gland, situated in this space, acts according to this new Universe born from your perception and secretes hormones that helps your body shape and adapt itself to the inner environment formed from your perception.

Changes in secretions of hormones cause changes in your body including, weight gain, weight loss, grey hair, skin infections, ageing, birth and death of all diseases and illnesses, and even death of your body itself.

You live in this Universe which comprises of your family and your children, your friends and foes, your choices and dislikes, your judgments and your memory of events, places and all that extra you have perceived. Your Universe is independent of the Universe that exists for all of creation. The alternate Universe you have created is indeed your ego.

Your ability to create an alternate Universe, an alternate reality, differentiates you from animals. Animals just live in the environment provided to them without the ability to create an alternate reality.

Surrender, then, truly is, to give up this Universe you have created. The vedas proclaim the alternate Universe as, neti meaning, not real.

When you have surrendered the Universe you have created, and when you have nothing else to hold onto, you surrender yourself. You become Godlike. To surrender, is to be FREE.


--Mahesh Krishnamurthy