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ShareAs children, when we fought over chocolates, parents have intervened to bring about a compromise, and the chocolate was either shared or given to the deserving candidate. End of dispute.
A little older children in schools have bigger problems to fight over; may be, disputes over a cricket match, or a verbal duel that, at worst, ends up in a scuffle and a black eye. But a dispute does not go on and on.
Levels of disputes grow as individuals grow, but it is also expected that as one advances in life, wisdom ripens maturity to such a high that there is no need for mediators to step in to resolve issues quickly so that others are not affected.
Older and wiser people have always harped that being an adult means attaining maturity -- mental maturity. Everything we wish for in life boils down to this single point of reality that a person must have maturity to solve his or her own problems, and more importantly, a nagging problem that may concern a larger group of people.
Those having the ability to solve problems using the skill, which is nothing more than a combination of wisdom and maturity, are the ones lauded.
So, when one looks at the present political crisis in the state that has carried on forever over complaints of being sidelined, it is clear that we are dealing withpeople lacking the skills to solve a problem.
The two groups are fighting for one seat of power -- the chief minister's gaddi. On side is defending the seat, while the other is laying claims to it.
But people are made to believe that there is a huge, chronic problem on hand -- a faulty leadership. Far from it, the 'problem' is just one of clashing egos; something that very much features among children while fighting for a box of chocolates.
The issue is nothing more than a 'you-scalped-my-pet-I-scalp-yours' kind of a cat fight on transfers of pet bureaucrats and ministers. But the shame over this crisis (an induced one, of course) is that the players from all three camps --the two in dispute and the mediators at the Centre -- are said to be grown-ups. Going by what the wise men have said over ages, these 'adults' should have had the maturity to put an end to this most unwanted crisis, especially when lakhs of flood-affected people await relief.
Instead, what we have is a petty issue that has been nurtured masterfully to develop into a multi-headed hydra which threatens to swallow its creators.
Care a hang for those lakhs squirming in misery in North Karnataka. The people who are part of the government are now celebrating a crisis, each hoping to derive a pound of flesh, Shylock-style. Even children would stop fighting for chocolates were they to realise that the one who brought them was dying by the side.
If a child is truly the father of man, let these politicking elements learn from children.
