Shri Shekhawat has taken an unnecessary risk at his old age by standing as an ‘independent’ with the tacit support of the NDA and its allies, because if he does lose this election, he will have lost all he has in the public space and will be compelled to finally retire. Had he negotiated another term as vice-president, he would have six more years of official comfort and public stature guaranteed. Ordinary people can never comprehend what inspires and motivates experienced old war-horse politicians, many of them in their eighties, to act as oddly as they do. They exude a peculiar desperation to hang on to office, any office, even fight for higher office, though the chances may be distant and dismal. In the bargain, they kill the energy and vitality of the young amongst their tribe, consciously stalling creative change, forcing Gen Next India to mark time.

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This wicket is now truly shaky and within five years, if not earlier, the young will invade the space and the old will pass on. Had it happened quicker, India would have moved faster and with fresh creative ideas and energy—and with alternatives to hitherto failed policies, thereby triggering initiative and excitement that would have brought the vital change and growth we have missed out on.

Positive shifts only happened because of the entrepreneurial spirit of the people of this country who have learnt, over millennia, how to deal ingeniously with exclusive power structures that rule from above with negligible concern for the multitudes’ needs. In the contemporary context, this is a legacy of colonial rule followed by post-1947 governments. The latter failed to provide inclusive governments that were committed to nurturing civil society. The result of simplistic governance led by uninformed quasi-literates is the political farce we witness day in and day out, with every political party competing to grab front stage. It has become embarrassing, to say the least.

With the nonsense of selfish political ineptitude on display in Delhi, one understands why voting is patterned on a game of ping-pong

To be away from newspapers and television is the only salvation in this ghastly scheme of affairs, because the less you know about such political trivialities, the better it is for the mind and soul. On a recent trip to central India, where the roads have deteriorated into ditches over the last two years, ordinary people have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to get on with their lives. You can see and feel the energy. With minimal infrastructure, the people out there are desperate for a real ‘take off’, and it is waiting to happen. Counter that with the nonsense of selfish political ineptitude on display in Delhi, and one understands why voting is patterned on a game of ping-pong. We have to vote because a democracy compels us to do so, despite the continuing failure of the elected representatives. Let’s just junk them is the sentiment, round after round. Politicians and administrators know this, and so spend their term making good for themselves and their kin. Social and political service? It has become as non-existent as the Rule of Law.

Back into the ‘privileged’ space of the country’s capital, nothing functions. At the airport, all the luggage conveyor belts are empty, except for one allocated to Jet Airways that has three flights landing together. A mad scramble ensues because some crazy has decided to put a single belt at the disposal of each airline, even when there are no other landings. There’s nobody there to bother. So, an airline that usually flies on time has to keep its passengers waiting indefinitely. The airport staff couldn’t care less if they miss their appointments. Maybe the consumer courts need to be activated to ensure some sanity in such parts of the service sector. The trouble is that those who forge management strategies never go through the paces they put us through. They don’t even know.