Indians Welcome Being Bossed Around

I read a news item recently about a telemedicine project that was ready for use, but not made available to potential beneficiaries because the powers-that-be could not get hold of a suitable celebrity to inaugurate it. This project would link the premier King Edward Memorial in Mumbai to three district level hospitals; and thus make specialized health care available to those who could not afford to come to the metropolis for treatment. This is hardly an isolated incident. Time and again, we hear of public projects being held up for weeks, even months, because some pompous VIP cannot ‘find the time’ to cut a ribbon or push a button.

I just do not understand this fetish we Indians – and particularly government employees – have about the necessity of ‘inaugurating’ projects. It’s a phenomenon that is unique to this sub-continent. Why do projects meant for the common people need to be inaugurated at all? Why can’t they put into service as soon as they are complete? Why do we give so much reverence to puffed up politicians, very few of whom have any redeeming qualities?

This also brings up the larger questions of why Indian society throws up such a large number of subservient sycophants. There are any number of people who are quite content to be lap dogs for their superiors; to be bossed around at will. And those in authority seem to have an inescapable craving for toadies and fawning serfs. It is almost as if the bosses feel incomplete without these accoutrements. When was the last time you saw the MD of your company carrying his own briefcase; or saw a minister at an airport who was not surrounded by flunkies? In some parts of the country, you can even witness the disgusting spectacle of politicians lying prostrate at the feet of the Great Leader.

This trait may perhaps explain why, throughout much of its history, India has been so easily conquered: from Alexander the Great, to the Mughals, to the British. It seems that we almost have a deep, psychological need to be led; to be told what to do. Like that mobile phone commercial on television, some of us appear to be most comfortable when, with clasped hands, we are telling ‘sir-ji’ what a wonderful idea he had. One of the principal reasons for Narendra Modi’s recent victory is that he bosses around the people of his state – and they love it.

It may also partly explain why, even after six decades, the concept of democracy remains flawed in this country. We do not seem to have grasped that, in a true democracy; it is we, the people, who have the power. The people we elect are supposed to work for us – not the other way round. And yet, how easily we surrender our rights and privileges to them. We allow them to block our roads, when they want to put on a show of power. We patiently wait at a venue, when the ‘chief guest’ shows up two hours late. And we are willing to endure the delayed implementation of government projects that we have paid for with our tax rupees.

Is this the India our founding fathers fought so hard for – so that we could replace one set of masters with another? The British looted a conquered country in order to enrich their own. Our leaders loot their own country with the sole intention of enriching themselves. And we let them. Perhaps we are getting the government we deserve.