Bull's Eye

The trouble with our thinkers is that they focus on ground realities. They need to focus on the roof realities. The multitude is on the ground. Fifty-odd dynasties that rule India stand on the roof.

These are the dynasties of Sonia Gandhi, Karunanidhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad Pawar, Farooq Abdullah, Jaswant Singh, Murli Deora, late Rajesh Pilot, the late Madhav Rao Scindia, Om Prakash Chautala, Parkash Singh Badal, the late Charan Singh, Maneka Gandhi, the late Pramod Mahajan, Balasaheb Thackeray, Ramadoss... okay, okay! There may be more than 50 dynasties. There may be even a hundred. But thatisn't saying much.

We all know who the dynasties are. But we're never sure who the people are. Sometimes secularists are the real people of India. At other times, saffronite Hindus are the real people of India. Or perhaps theOBCs may be the real people. Sometimes even Dalits become the real people of India. Sometimes there are combinations that make real people. Right now, Brahmins and Dalits are the people of Uttar Pradesh. Recently, Yadavs and Muslims were the people of Uttar Pradesh. Sometimes there are even disputes about who the real Scheduled Tribes are. Very recently Gujjars and Meenas were battling it out because theycouldn't decide who the real Scheduled Tribe was.

So how must we determine who the people of India are? Why, the dynasties on the roof tell us that. The dynastiesdon't change. But the people keep changing. This leads one to a profound truth. In India, peopledon't choose the leadership. Leaders choose the people. So why not scrap elections? Citizens should stop voting for leaders. Let leaders vote for the people. Let dynasties elect saffronites or secularists, forwards or backwards as the real people of India. This will give us a genuine, representative, low-cost democracy. As many ancient, wise philosophers almost said: Let there be a government of the dynasties, for the dynasties, by the dynasties.

(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)