A person with a heart of gold

Part 1

Who is a good human being?  People will answer kind, caring, understanding, loving etc,. are the qualities which define a good human being. 

For me, apart from the above mentioned qualities, one needs to have empathy for those who are less fortunate and less privileged and at the same time, provide solutions so that they can be empowered. 

When I see RG, I see in him every single quality which a leader needs to have. Clarity of thought, Vision, Foresight, Centrist approach and above all honest, earnest, humble and always ready to help people and a person who is passionate about upliftment of poor, downtrodden not by giving dole but by empowering them. Of course, he is smart, suave and sophisticated too. 

Born into the first family of India, having studied and worked abroad, it would been natural to have settled there. Not many people would have questioned it either. However, he decided his calling was serving the country and bringing about a systematic change. 

Galileo, Socrates, Plato, Newton, Einstein, Edison - All these luminaries were insulted and laughed at by the society of their era. None was spared the ridicule. The more human beings change, the more they remain the same. If they find an individual who doesnt conform to societal norms, wants to do something for downtrodden, is innovative, is a thinker; he will be hated, ridiculed and disliked and spoken about in disparaging terms. 

Even today, when I watch the visuals of Ex-PM Indira Gandhi's funeral or Ex-PM Rajiv's last rites, my eyes immediately go the boy aged 14 in 1984. How innocent does he look but still taking in the enormity of tragedy. My eyes well up every single time I watch those visuals. Two close blood relations killed by terrorists and still some leading media people ridicule the party and RG talking about soft attitude towards terrorists. Sad that such people lack the basic human understanding that Congress and Gandhi Family in particular have always been at the forefront of fight against terrorism and have sacrificed a lot in that battle. Be it Afzal Guru or Kasab , party and leadership have shown no mercy towards them. 


Year 2004 - BJP was riding high on popularity of its leader/PM Vajpayee, called early elections and went in with India Shining slogan. Was defeated comprehensively. When the Congress President declined, he could have said he wanted to be PM. No one would have demurred or opposed. He did not do so. Five years till 2009, any time of his choosing, he could have become a Cabinet Minister as the then PM asked him repeatedly to join. He declined. Why? Because he genuinely felt he needed to gain experience and first priority was to slowly bring about organisational changes. Wanted to strengthen the organisation at grass root level,  change by bringing in youth and a paradigm shift with regard to how politicians are viewed. Today, INC has a plethora of young leaders some second generation, some brimming with fresh ideas and plans. Who brought them in? Who groomed them? Most were unpolished and raw when they joined, today are polished diamonds. Unfortunately, people or media have no interest but reality is all of them have been empowered by RG.

Year 2009 - Congress won with a bigger mandate than in 2004. Narrative was carried out that the victory was due to the PM and his image of a honest person was the only reason for the bigger mandate. It is only partly true. The strategy, the planning , the campaign - everything was done by RG. Did he get any credit? No. Did he ever mention his role in the 2009 win? No. Why? That is because he is humble and believes it was a team effort. I know how he burnt midnight oil to achieve this win. 26/11 had just happened, BJP's iron man was their PM candidate, one who thought this time PM chair was his for the taking. Dr Singh, in comparison was seen as a light weight and everywhere one went, it was said BJP would win 180 seats easily and form the government. Under such adverse circumstances, Congress managed to get a bigger mandate. Every minute detail with regard to campaign strategy, selection of candidates in key states, identification of personnel who could win; The entire back room operation, key to the win was conceptualised, managed and successfully implemented by RG. However, media and the cabal opposed to RG would tell us otherwise. 

Be it in 2004 or 2009, he could have said I want to be PM. Right wing in India made up of buffoons and clowns do not possess the IQ to understand that everyone is not crazy about power. Yes, one needs power to transform, reform and change. However, it does not mean you grab power by hook or crook. It has to be a organic process wherein you gain the requisite experience, understand the system, see what requires modification, find solutions through broader consensus. These steps require time and you need to ensure you do not trample people those who have been with the party for ages. 

When you wish to change the status quo, some people who have got fat due to the status quo, become powerful enemies. . Oily wheeler dealers, Middlemen, Lobbyists, Corrupt business men, Media personalities - Many such people who enjoyed ill gotten wealth were told politely to mend their ways. Who rewarded these people? How they became part of a system and made it rotten? These are questions which will be answered in another topic. Sticking to the topic on hand, these corrupt rotten rascals naturally didnt want to change their ways. They were shown the door when inspite of repeated requests they did not reform. In retaliation, they did what came to them naturally. These people indulged in rumor mongering, spreading innuendo through their network. That is the harsh fact of life and one has to accept it will happen regardless of the individual who wishes to bring about change. Many people who joined this unholy campaign have never met RG, but they have formed opinions and sometimes talk for hours about him is quite disgusting.

An entire false narrative was created, spread over a period of 4 years starting from 2010 to 2014. Such narrative require time and lot of resources to gain momentum. These corrupt people had both in abundance. How such a narrative was pushed and how it got an unexpected push from an external factor would be revealed in Part 2. 

To be Continued...