Blessed are the people who get an
opportunity to work for a great cause. True is the saying that some people are
born great, some make themselves great and on some people greatness is imposed.
Greatness can never be seen in isolation. It’s always with respect to the
internal & external environment, occasions and timings. This is true in
every walk of life. Many times we see that there are many talented players at
single point of time. Only exceptional and fortunate ones get a chance to prove
them & much of the talent is lost in obscurity at that timeframe while
lesser talented ones make name for themselves in dearth of sufficient talent at
particular point of time. Similar to this in politics, entertainment industry
& many other fields, the history has seen many celebrated leaders who were
low on competence but are worshipped today as great leaders & statesmen
because of environmental & situational factors at that particular point of
time.
At present India is going through
tough times. The country desperately needs honest, able & committed
leadership. On one hand we see majority of the conventional leaders who still
profess the same fundamentals & ideologies which they have practiced since
independence. We see corruption in every walk of life. Again on the horizon of Indian
society, appeared a social activist, who may be low on competence but high on commitment
to cause, led the agitation on corruption, backed with bunch of ex-bureaucrats
& youths, fought against the rotten political & bureaucratic system.
Recently our politicians were forced to pass the Lokpal bill (Ombudsman) in the
parliament. The fallout of the agitation resulted into the birth of a political
force, Aam Admi Party (Common Mans Party), which surprised everyone in the
country by bagging considerable seats in recent Delhi elections. This shows
that one need not to be extraordinarily competent & gifted in order to be a
successful leader, but the commitment to the cause, ability to read public
pulse & act proactively, can transform an average person into a great
leader and bring a massive change in the society.
Sometimes the greatness &
leadership is thrust on a person by virtue of his birth, lineage &
circumstances. History has seen such kind of leaders in past & these people
till today are remembered as great stalwarts & thinkers who changed the
course of history. When India got independence, two people were selected to
lead it. One got the De facto Head of State position of by virtue of his
lineage (he was competent but other people more competent than him were equal
contenders for the position, but ignored) & other got the position of De
jure Head of the State (ceremonial position) by virtue of his competence & extraordinary leadership capabilities.
Today if we analyse their contribution & India’s development since independence,
we can easily see the effects of the average leadership capabilities & low commitment
in terms of India’s moderate growth & weak economic / foreign policy. This
shows that thrust greatness most of the time does not have longevity & in
long run ruins the society. On other hand leaders like Indira Gandhi & Rajeev
Gandhi, who were also low on competence side, got important position to lead
the country, they led from front & transformed the fortune of country. Ms
Indira Gandhi strengthened the position of India in terms of potent foreign
policy & Mr. Rajeev Gandhi started the process of economic liberalization
& made India an IT power. This only shows that young political leaders in
in India, who got their position by virtue of their lineage, can also become
successful extraordinary leaders & transform the society if they are high
on commitment to the cause. Again I would like to say these fortunate people that
they are the blessed people who have got a chance to work for the greater cause
of working for the welfare of society by virtue of lineage, need only to be
high on commitment, in order to transform the society. But the irony is that
the commitment is by product of struggle & the position obtained by virtue
of lineage, lacks struggle & many times does not translate into commitment.
There are some extraordinary
leaders who made themselves great. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela,
Franklin, Roosevelt & Sardar Patel are some examples. Another category of
people is who are born great. I would like to keep Swami Vivekanada, Jesus Christ
& Gautam Buddha in this category. I would like to end the blog with the thoughts
of Swami Vivekananda- “Great occasions rouse even the lowest of human beings to
some kind of greatness, but he alone is really great man whose character is
great always, the same wherever he be.”
