Rays of Hope

I have a friend who lives in the capital. He came back to India after several years in the USA. He studied there and ran two very successful businesses. Hailing from a small town in Gujarat, his sojourn in USA was not without its share of issues, but he made the piles that allowed him to move back to India to “give back” to his country, a la the Hindi film Swades.  

In those days, his eyes used to shine each time the country was mentioned: he seriously believed in ‘India Shining’. I was loath to shatter his idealistic fervour. Every time he said, “Desh ke liye kuchh karna hai,” I would quell my disbelief and tell myself that I was being unduly cynical; that I must wear my journalistic cynicism more lightly.

This friend continued to work hard and long into the night. One of many advisers on a team that advises the current powers that be, he prayed feverishly for a ticket. He was nominated from his home city in year one. That year he stood for the elections and lost to the candidate representing the current ruling party in the state. Undeterred he carried on working. The next year he hoped and prayed. But the ticket never came. Nonetheless, he continued to work and apply his mind and resources to draft plans for schemes that aim to “ease the problems of the people”.

But something has changed. Five years in the business, so to speak, of politics has left him a tad disillusioned. Recently, when I asked him about his future plans, he said, “I guess I will carry on. They are all corrupt, but some are less corrupt than others. And therein is the hope, the silver lining that allows us to weather the dark clouds and the storms that are a daily part of life in India. The people of the country are its backbone and when they rise, it will be a wave which like water will find its level. We Indians survive on the basis of faith in a larger justice. All we need during this time of flux is a leader who leads by example.”

His voice mirrors the state of mind of many Indians, especially the youth of this country. 
My friend also said, “Change is constant. But we must be the change, as trite as that may sound today. We must speak up. We must voice our concerns and doubts. If we don’t speak up or protest, we deserve what we get. Change demands unity and belief in the greater good.”

This time, I tend to agree and not doubt his belief. For faith can and does move mountains. And what went around will come around. There is hope in the fact that in these hyper real times beset by crime and inequity, there are still people in whom the still small voice continues to assert its own and inspire others.

The author is a published writer and an independent arts consultant.