If Arvind Kejriwal has to take a public vote for every decision he takes, he is going to paint himself into a corner. Against the background over the weekend controversy over the house allotted to him and his dithering over it and his incessant blather about Spartan living it seems aspiration is a bad word in Delhi these days. Denial seems to be style of the moment. Don’t buy a car, get out of it and walk if you are a good man. Any striving is now suspicious.
And yet, watch this news feature on the Kejriwal family on the TV. Arvind lying on a simple cot. His brow knotted in fierce concentration as he stares at the computer screen. Arvind tossing and turning on the same cot as he wrestles with the weight of power. His wife, cooking on a two ring stove. Don’t they have a maid? Like an Amol Palekar movie with Deepti Naval.
So touching. So simple, so delightfully ascetic, Mohandas Gandhi comes alive. But think of it. The Kejriwals invited the TV crew in. Those peeps set the stage and did sound tests and lighting. They had cables slithering all over the place. Testing, testing, one, two three.
Then they asked him to lie down on the cot. Sir, please arm over forehead, good, good, more light, here, here, camera one, take two. Two takes, three takes, better angles, more empathy, better expression, cut. Then they allowed a camera crew into their kitchen where this lady stood with her mike and we watched Mrs. Kejriwal make din-din and this was theater at its worst.
Window dressing and disturbing. No one minds candid shots of newsmakers taken at the spur of the moment and marketed. But a rehearsed domestic invasion of your home and hearth to underscore your simplicity is a matter of concern because it just is. This is not simple. In fact, worrying that you could allow the orchestration.
What terrible PR. Who is advising him to do this sort of stuff?
There is this TV channel called Aaj Tak that carried out a cheap shot sting operation by bribing some Delhi water board officials and catching them on camera. You’d think it was the Great Train Robbery the way they have been placing the Kejriwal people on the mat. Oh come on, that is grossly unfair. The guy has only been there in office nine days and he has 60 years of corrupt grout to scrape out. But since the sting things have gone nuts. Kejriwal thanked the TV channel, which really is pathetic (no great revelation, there was no need to be so grateful) and suspended the three bribe takers. People are now so scared to take anything, not even a cup of tea, not a tip. I tried to give the plumber Rs100 and he refused it. The painter did the same. The downside to all this sudden squeaky cleanliness is that the working class has lost its incentive to go to work. They are trying how to work out the replacement for this sudden loss of revenue. It was a perk. The painter did not return. Ironically, it is the government servants who are worst “hit.” Things have slowed down to a snail’s pace. The touts have vanished, the typists who got those forms filled and affidavits signed have scarpered and the queue does not move. Now, you call the water board or the electricity department they are going by the book and it is a long book. No baksheesh (tip), then you can hold the buck and sheesh, man, it is your problem. If your phone is not working the guy will come, record his visit and do nothing...so your, phone stays silent.
Not to be funny but this overnight turn of things has robbed a nation of its lubricant and the wheels of government might just come to a creaking halt. Kejriwal transferred 800 people from the water board; all of them aam aadmis (common men) and they are truly teed off. All day yesterday government servants were moaning about their earnings...even the cop, the guard, the Municipality, the road gangs, the cleaner, the housing board, the court staff, the registration office, have to face a sudden drop in pay...and how many folks are going to be suspended?
Is it too much too fast (not soon because it is late enough) and will it rebound? If no one is available to sign your documents in a nation wedded to the paper chase. To make it much worse there is this desire to be on TV that is so overwhelming the aam aadmi guys get suckered into it and make the most stupid statements. On the hour one of them is getting into trouble. And big trouble at that. Why can’t they resist coming on TV till they have grasped the basics of their role. Every few minutes Kejriwal is apologizing for one of them and their gaffes.
And the day has only just begun. Sir, you are an IIT graduate, now the chief minister of the capital of a country of 1.2 billion people. Live a little...we need to look up to you, not have you as good neighbor Sam. Lead from the front not from the ranks.
