The Bane of Public Life

Alas!! even the mighty fall. Fall prey to the frailty of human nature - to the desire for fame & recognition, the desire for leaving a stamp on things that are not theirs, for they consider everything to be their domain. Is this unbridled ambition, or again the self getting too much with one self???

I often wonder what makes our idols behave in such an imprudent manner. Perfectly sensible and wise people, acknowledged national icons, celebrities in their own right - why do such people get carried away . Have they not achieved thier life's ambitions, their crowning glory , thier share of limelight??

Time and again, we have come across national icons making a mockery of themselves by getting carried away too much - just look at the illustrious list - T.N.Sheshan, Mohd. Azaruddin ( although his misdemeanour waas a bit more serious) , Arundhati Roy ( encashing literray fame to advocate secessionism), K.P.S.Gill ( for the tremendous contribution to the demise of Indian Hockey), M.S.Gill (blotting the impartiality of the office of the CEC by becoming a Minister), Shabana Azmi (questioning India's secularism after enjoying benefits of a liberal pluralistic society) - the list is endless.

This post is attributed to the rise and fall of Mr. E. Sreedharan, the much acknowledged and widely appreciated Managing Director of the DMRC. The man who was an icon for the nation's youth, who had captured and captivated the collective conscience of a nation due to his impeccable integrity and meticulous execution of the nation's flagship project - the Delhi Metro.

What suddenly prompted him to shoot off a letter to the Planning commission questioning the premise of implementing Metro projects on a BOT basis- that too after DMRC was a consultant and a party to the deccsion making process. Is this ethical behaviour - the GoAP has rightly questioned the DMRC cheif for violating the sanctity of contract, threatening leagl action and contemplating suing him for defamation. Justifiably so.

Agreed - Mr. Sreedharan is an authority on Metro systems and his words carry weight due to his experience of implementing the Delhi Metro- no doubt a success story. Does this give him the authority to criticise innovations or new practices being contemplated by other cities - or does he assume that he has the sole monopoly over wisdom of implementing a MRTS??? Without doubt, he has a right to question, but not to criticise based on unsubstantiated allegations. Untill we have a scam, Mr. Sreedharan had no right (or better still business) to attribute motives to the process undertaken by the GoAP for the Hyderabad Metro. Why is this insecurity creeping in this man - or is there a sinister motive of ensuring all metro models run on DMRC pattern - either to continue being an adviser to upcoming metros or to sustain the business of DMRC as a Consulting firm???? Let the BoT model for metro fail - don't assume that failure. There would always be naysayers to innovations (wasn't the Delhi metro touted as a failure initally) - does it not go against the tenets of basic principles of urban planning - a metro in a non-linear city was supposed to be a failure - did it not succed???

Mr. Sreedharan's integrity is impeccable- the kind of motives am attributing to him are precisely the kind of motives he has attributed to Hyderabad Metro. The criticsim coming from lesser mortal would not have hurt - coming from an illustrious person like Mr. E.Sreedharan pains immeasurably. I guess this imbalance between reality and the self is the bane of fame in public life. It's time for Mr. Sreedharan to gracefully tender an apology - not for questioning the BOT model but for attruibuting motives and retire gracefully to enjoy the sunset years.

A lesson we as a nation should learn is that no one is indispensable - in public life or otherwise. There is no dearth of talent in this nation ( or anywhere fo that matter) and our celebrities should have the humility to exit at an appropraite moment - rather than undue moralising. No where in the world do officials become celebrities / heroes for doing what they are supposed to do.

Is it not the time to have larger national debate on why as a nation we focus so much on individuals rather than systems - why are all our reforms individual centric?? As far as we can see, we notice individual islands of brillance leading the crusade of reforms for ex. in administration and governance, we come across individual excellence - be it crusaders like Mr. Chandrashekahr in Thane, Mr. Khairnar in Mumbai, Mr. Sheshan in the Election commission, Mr. A.K.Lakhina in Auranagabd and scores more from Ludhiana to Surat. Why are the reforms dependent on individual brilliance - what is the systemic flaw that does not enable us to replicate these in other places??? In fact this leads to a larger question and calls for a debate as to why the system fosters so much of inefficiency and inertia among other officers whereas a handful succeed??? Is it the recruitment process or the moribund environement that robs the zeal to perform?? Why are there few notable examples of reform orientation and administrative efficieny among 6,000 bureaucrats that we have ??

Another thought that comes to my addled mind is why do we in India make a virtue of necessity - there is often a tendency to state - 'X official is very honest , Y is very efficient'. Isn't it ridiculous to make such statements - aren't X & Y supposed to be honest and efficient - are they not getting paid for being so - are officals or for that matter people in public life not supposed to be so - is'nt this a necessary qualification criteria for them to be in the position they are in???

I presume we have stooped so low in terms of moral turpitude that ordinary expected behavioural traits are being touted as virtues. Our public figures need to learn a lot from the erstwhile Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Koizumi , who quit politics at the hegiht of his popularity and despite repeated pleas has refused to re-enter. This is the mettle true heroes are made off - accepting extensions to jobs ( even if you are forced by the Govt) - Mr. Sreedharan is not stuff that real heroes are made off.