I remember that afternoon — the Western Express Highway in Mumbai had a traffic jam. The vital suburban highway connects various important points of the city, including the airport. I, like several others on the road, had a flight to catch. On a normal day, it would take ten minutes to the terminal. However, today, the traffic had not moved for over half an hour.
The jam wasn’t due to road construction or a vehicle mishap. Instead, a few cops had intentionally stopped the traffic. “VIP movement,” is all a cop told me when I asked. Some of us begged the cops to let us go lest we miss our flight. The cops shooed us away. The stranded crowd smirked at us, as if saying how stupid of us to even try.
I saw the faces of people waiting in their bikes, cars, buses and auto rickshaws. The long jam meant literally thousands of people waiting to move behind us. People were late for work, business meetings, doctor’s appointments, social visits and college. Yet, while everyone was uncomfortable, nobody seemed agitated either. After all, this was a part of Indian life. A neta passes, the world around has to stop.
I made frantic calls to the airline staff and managed to get a boarding pass printed. When traffic finally cleared, I was lucky to make it to the flight. The airline, aware of the jam, had delayed the plane somewhat. It would now delay other flights elsewhere in India. Despite this, many passengers couldn’t make it. These people spent considerable time, effort and money to re-book themselves to their destinations. I had a speaking engagement in my destination city. If I had missed this flight, the function would have to be cancelled.
Meanwhile, I assume the neta arrived in Mumbai , had people salute him, lift his bags and shut his car doors. He would have zipped off the highway on his way to cut a ribbon somewhere or have a meeting; probably important but not urgent either. If the road had not been cleared for him, he would have still reached his destination, perhaps ten minutes later (and with a more realistic picture of the roads and traffic in Mumbai.) However, to ensure his comfort thousands waited for an hour, airlines upset schedules, and at least one event planner in the country had a panic attack.
Who was this VIP? He was an MP, a minister. He was neither the king of India nor the colonial ruler of our country. We don’t have those anymore . The person was an elected representative, someone people had chosen to do a job. Sure, to handle a ministry of a large country is not a small job. He does deserve respect for it. However , does respect mean subservience? Does someone having a powerful job mean we accept any form of power abuse from him or her? Do we think it is ok for a busy city to stop just because some elected leader needs a smooth ride to his or her meeting? If we do, aren’t we at some level accepting, and even becoming accomplices to, the subjugation?
Of course, some would argue: what other option do we have? Creating a ruckus on the blocked road would only create more havoc. A public protest could turn into a mob-like situation , which isn’t the solution either. The answer to power abuse is not anarchy.
So what do we do? Before we answer that, we need to see why our elected representatives continue to think of themselves as little monarchs.
Our political class inherited a British colonial system, which had zero accountability to the colonized. Quite cleverly, they never changed laws to bring in accountability, the cornerstone of a democracy. Till date, our netas try to rule us like colonial rulers and hate any proposals that reduce their powers or demand accountability.
While such legal and policy battles continue, a large part of the problem is also the Indian mindset . We do see them as our kings. We do think ‘they are in power’ means ‘they can do anything.’ We do not realize ‘being in power’ means ‘being in power to only do things in national interest.’
If Indians change this mindset, changes to laws and policies will follow. Specifically, if a majority of us see and expect netas to be service providers instead of rulers, it will trigger a huge behavioral change in the political class.
How do you change mindsets across the country ? Well, start with yourself, and then try to change as many others as possible. If you suffered, talk about it. Text friends, talk about it on social networks and to your colleagues. Tell everyone if you witness abuse of power, especially when your service provider neta acts like an entitled prince. Sure, they drive your nation, but just as a hired driver drives a bus. The driver cannot start believing he owns the bus. The driver should also know that if he doesn’t drive well, he would be removed.
So let us work on changing this mindset if we want a better India. Kings and colonizers left our country over six decades ago. It is time they left our minds.