"Warrior of Hope", Letter To Mr Narendra Modi!!

 “It is better to lead from behind & put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory. You take the front line when there is danger. That’s the way people will appreciate you as a good leader… Nelson Mandela.”

To Hon Modi Sir,

Rather I was confused what term I should use to write you, & better shall call you as Narendrada as that gives more comfort & familiar feel. I am Sanjay Deshpande, a civil engineer/builder from Pune, Maharashtra; I don’t know whether my words through this letter will be ever reach to you or not, as never in my life I have tried to write to even a elected member of my town, leave apart Prime Minister of India! But then when you feel to write someone it’s not mere words but the feelings you are expressing. Not that I haven’t come across good leaders/politicians in the society but never felt like writing to them is a fact. As the great leader has said in the above quote, I think you have lived the later part i.e. putting yourself at front when the danger was there & showed how a leader should take on the danger! The earlier part of the quote is yet to become true as I am sure you also know the real danger (this may be wrong word) yet it’s in form of the delivering lies ahead so you need to be in front for a while.

Narendrada I wonder from your way of approaching masses that is it mere coincidence that a person with same name has long back won the masses of even western world with just one sentence “My brothers & sisters” & kept on teaching this country to know its own strength! I am referring to none other than Swami Vivekananda, who lived a short life but a life worth following! He also tried to make common man understand value of his life & utilize it for a cause & what you were telling to us through your campaign wasn’t any different is what I feel. If at all difference was then you were asking us to do via channel of democracy but in actual it’s for us only. To me we as a democracy were very immature till you came along & appealed us to wake up or grow up is the proper word. As when most of the time every educated & later even non educated man was thinking, “kya farak padata hai yar apne ek votese”, about the elections; as the way it’s being fought & won.  It’s you who made us to understand our power. I am voting since last twenty years now & for the first time in my life I saw queue of people in one of the best locality in Pune where I reside, when the usual scene was supposed to be a holiday type mahowl on the D day! That day & that time I started respecting you more as this wasn’t a one day effect or chamatakar, but this was outcome of a man who not single handed but by using thousand hands have made this happen. And it has been replicated in every town & city of this so called secular country which in actual lives non secularism at every level of society, may it be election or service or even a thing as personal as marriage.

We are secular conveniently till now, using our caste or religion only for our benefit but it’s this time we voted going beyond that & realizing the real caste or religion is development of the entire nation & society. Narendrada, do you realize what you have ignited by your campaign? It’s not voters’ confidence or just faith in what you say, it’s the hope you ignited which was on the verge of dying in every common man’s mind of this country. And when I say common here it includes a billionaire business man living in his empire as well a rikshawala on street! As the country which used to live on hope since our ancient times & believed in thirty three crore Gods or Allah or Jesus & think that their god can take them out from any bad situation, has lost their hopes about the state of their country! “Is deshka kuch nahi ho sakata ab” was the general feel & I myself too wasn’t exception. 

You must have come across a novel by Ian Rand,“Atlas Shrugged’ & in that novel same situation has been shown what we feel every day. There a question is asked by everyone to everyone “Who is Joan Galt?” means God knows, to describe the frustration & helplessness about the situation around. The scene was those who are working hard & really want to do something good for the society by their work are being sucked by those who are just idealistic & in hand with rulers without any policy.

What you did was something my generation has forgotten to believe & that is why we have stopped hoping for miracle. And we forget that miracle is within us & we can make things happen. Though there wasn’t any common pool or communication group to bring along the change which each of us wanted & you without even knowing to yourself has become that group like on whats-ap or fb & people shared the change through you! When Internet was in making no one knew what it will change in the society, well it just didn’t changed society but it changed the concepts of communication & what is a society without communication? Your campaign also was worth studying for any management school & sure it will be part of many B Schools syllabus hereafter & even of war colleges also. As by me it indeed was a war, where you were to fight seen as well unseen enemies. It said in politics there are no permanent enemies; well then the coin has other side too. Means you don’t have any permanent friend also in the politics. 

I am fan of good movies & good book, in famous Harry Potter series, the Hogwarts School’s principal Dumbledore once says, “It requires courage to stand up against the enemies but it require far more than just courage to stand up against your friends” & I think who better than you could describe this dialogue!

Why I said your war story because it’s like fighting everybody at same time on different fronts, first with opposition parties then with the so called friends within the parties & lastly fight with the dead hopes of entire nation’s common man! And that too in time span of less than eight months with only asset of being a successful Chief Minister of a state out of thirty two states of this country! Agreed you are the only Chief Minister (to my knowledge) who eventually has become the Prime Minister of the country but then there were other successful Chief Ministers too in this country. So its definitely is your credit as well subject of study how you could achieve which no one could even dream! At the same time this absolute win is a big responsibility to treat you opponents with dignity too; as we have witnessed the history, how even a defeated King Puru has been treated by anonther king i.e. Sikandar like a king only.

Unfortunately in our country we are specialized in analyzing failures but rarely study success as we are too ignorant about it or emotional fool is proper word. But I am sure when you said you will show your report card in 2019, then you mean what you said & for that success analysis is a must.

Now as first part of the war has been won, the more difficult part starts as once the hopes of a nation are relived, it’s like awakening a sleeping giant as it will start demanding & a country with hundreds of languages, cultures , castes, religions its mammoth job. Yet what I feel is when it comes to expectation from life the 120 crore population country has same definition about good life. That way we the Indians have been successful in western countries only because of our fewer expectations about life. “Do wakt ki roti, soneke liye sarpe khudka chhappar aur ho sake to ekhad gaddi“ i.e. an assured meal, own home & a car is like bonus; bass, that’s our very basic definition of good life & we are ready to slog for it; and the best part is no one wants these basic need free! Whatever threat people may show about riots & communal, all these have been emerged from the frustrations of this very basic need hasn’t been fulfilled & then we have leaders who are expert in keeping us fighting for the reasons which are no way related to the cause but mainly to distract people from their failure of not doing the duty. The common man in this country hasn’t yet forgotten the humanity as its still here in this country a glass of water is asked to any visitor without knowing his origin, such is our gesture. So when you appealed for development, it’s this common man who understood the difference & importance of your campaign & what a way he has responded!! In a way it’s a sign of maturity of the democratic India also.

Development of a City or a Country isn’t just high GDP or Airports or IT Parks or Big Malls, but it’s the comfort level in the mindset of common man for his every day survival. We do need education, good health facilities & we are ready to pay for all the services. Challenge is to make it available at affordable cost & in reality. Years after years we have been shown rosy picture of a “Sujalam Sufalam Bharat” & everyone was watching who is in actual getting “Sujalam Sufalam!”. I am sure you know or have understood all this, just wanted to confirm as feedback from a commoner’s eye. Please do try to share this view & understanding of yours to every karyakarta; senior or junior as hereafter you will need it. As when every individual soldier of a kingdom speaks same words & has same morals that of the King, only those Kings have succeeded is the lesson from history!

Lastly now with the position you are in, there will be thousands who will be expecting something from you but I will wish that you ask me what I can give you in your mission of achieving “Achhe Din”, as that’s the best way I can pay my tribute to the “Warrior of Hope” for this country!!

Jay Hind!!

--

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

MSEDCL (Power) Committee, Credai, Pune

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