My Oped in the Pioneer: Mockery of austerity
Thursday, 24. September 2009 - 12:47 PM
This was published in the Pioneer today. Comments welcome as always.
Mockery of austerity
Sandeep BIt’s an attempt to cover up Government’s failures
Our dharmashastras prohibit hoarding of food, or acquiring material possessions, beyond the bare minimum as one of the qualities of an ideal Brahmin. The reason: The more you possess, the farther those possessions divert you from the path of self-study (swadhyaya), penance, and spiritual realisation.
A few thousand years later, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wore just a loin cloth to cover his modesty because he was appalled by the swarming millions of poor people in India. The third Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, forbade his family from using his official car for personal purposes, and his position to get jobs for his sons.
These are straightforward and everlasting examples of austerity.
Cut to today. A few weeks ago, Minister for External Affairs, Mr SM Krishna, and Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Shashi Tharoor, famously declared that they wouldn’t move out of the five-star hotels they were staying in. They reasoned it was fine because they paid for it from their personal accounts. This was just the whiff of opportunity that the ruckus-rakers within the Congress were waiting for. It was time for a fresh internal boxing match to ‘show’ who was closer to the throne.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee chided his two colleagues for their vulgar extravagance at a time of rising food prices and assorted economic horrors. Expectedly, Congress president Sonia Gandhi stepped in and agreed with Mr Mukherjee that prices were indeed spiralling through the roof. Post-haste, she laid the foundation stone for the ‘austerity’ show that followed.
Massive retinues of various hues of specialisation – commandos, cops, friskers, mediapersons – accompanied the austerity awareness tours that Ms Gandhi and her son Mr Rahul Gandhi embarked upon. While the mother travelled in economy class by flight, the son preferred the Shatabdi chair car. Congressmen cutting across positions had to grudgingly follow the example. The picture-and-sound-starved media celebrated this show of simplicity with childlike wonder. But the message had reached the intended ears much before this awareness drive. Mr Krishna and Mr Tharoor had ‘seen’ the light and by then had vacated their five-star lodgings.
But the austerity train took a new turn when Mr Tharoor posted a message (or Tweet) about travelling in economy class on Twitter (http://twitter.com/home), a hugely popular micro-blogging Web service. His tweet, “Absolutely, in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!” in response to a query started ‘Bout 2′ of the boxing match almost immediately. The omnipotent Congress ‘high command’ slammed Mr Tharoor’s tweet and obtained a “clarification” (read apology) from him. A news report quoting Congress sources said that this was the high command’s way of sending a “message” to all “new entrants” that they should “learn the language and culture of this historic party.”
While there’s some truth in the oft-repeated quote from Sarojini Naidu about the cost of keeping Mahatma Gandhi poor, it is undeniable that Gandhi personally led an austere life and inspired millions of Indians to follow it. Lal Bahadur Shastri is remembered with respect bordering on reverence for exactly this reason. However, the politics and character of the Nehruvian Congress stands at the other pole. While Jawaharlal Nehru was quite ostentatious about his extravagance and his contempt for the ‘lower class’ is well-known, the Congress , beginning with the other Gandhi (Mrs Indira Gandhi), very austerely institutionalised corruption, nepotism and intrigue. Little surprise that Shastri is a complete misfit in the ‘language’ and ‘culture’ of this historic party. But today’s avatar of the Congress wants us to actually believe that its ‘spread austerity’ programme is concordant with Mahatma Gandhi’s austerity.
Besides, it is even wasteful to talk about this mindless hysteria, which is nothing beyond a neat attempt to divert our attention from the UPA’s 100-plus days of non-governance. On the food shortage problem and the general wretchedness of the economy, Shastri told a journalist that he would ask the Planning Commission to “have one more column in their charts to show (me) how many jobs will be created after spending thousands of crores of rupees.” He didn’t take his sons, hangers-on, and fellow travellers on austerity train rides.
A truly austere person doesn’t hold Press conferences about it. Austerity is a cultivated trait of character. Enough said.
24. September 2009 - 11:25 PM
I am a first-time visitor to this website/blog, and am hooked!
I intended to visit it briefly, led by a search-string, but for nearly 2 hours now I have been going through its thicket of well-argued (will not describe them as polemics, as what I see hear is much much better) articles and essays!!
Brilliant.
24. September 2009 - 11:27 PM
Just noticed the typo in my prev post — it was supposed to be “here” (not ‘hear’!).
Pls accept my sheepish grinning apology
25. September 2009 - 1:55 AM
Awesome oped as always….
25. September 2009 - 9:04 AM
I think it’s better to live “simply” than lead an austere lifestyle.
Austerity always sounds like a lot of work post a lot of preparation.
When Shastri forbade his family from taking advantage of official facilities – he was being correct, not austere.
Similarly there are stories of Chanakya lighting an official and a private lamp as his time was divided between business of State and otherwise.
M.Vishveshvariah too is known to have placed his official pen back when not in office.
These were all examples of public officials being correct in their ethic.
As citizens we too should inculcate such correct behaviors. I know I’m guilty of taking home office stationary due to sheer laziness and or easy access to it.
So when Sonia Maino travels and demands others travel Economy, the question to ask would be – is Business class travel required at all? If yes, why? Especially for a couple hours of flight. Not that Business class travel is somehow ostentatious. It may be too…but what it affords on longish travel is more “private and deliberation” time for public officials and businessmen.
Gandhi was another extreme and very Congresslike in his insistence that others must follow his lead in everything.
It’s good that none followed him in his loin cloth. Sardar Patel, Bose and a host of others did well without expensive preparation and show.
I remember anecdotes of Savarkar insisting his family eat food without salt and like. That’s how he lived in the Kalapani. He wanted them to be prepared for the worst or to know what the worst could be like.
The thing is austerity should be avoided like any other fetish. Correct and adequate lifestyle is better to imbibe.
Also helps avoid building a huge and unwieldy ego.
As you might have guessed, some changes are in order for me too
25. September 2009 - 1:40 PM
All you ‘communal Hinduvadis’, could not get the simple fact that UPA’s ass-steerity drive coincided with Ramzaan ? Ramzaan over, ass-steerity drive over.
Over to the assemblies.
29. September 2009 - 1:13 PM
Good observations, specially about the Congress lexicon, “clarification’ means ‘apology’! The whole austerity saga sounds more like a schoolroom lecture by winger wagging teachers. You have very rightly pointed out facts about Shastri’s and Gandhiji’s austerity, which was their way of life, not something they woke up and decided to do one fine day!. If it has to be told and visibly demonstrated, then it is just for show, not a trait, like you mentioned.
On a lighter note, maybe you would like to visit my blog, http://smitasahay.blogspot.com/, for a good laugh on a similar topic!
3. October 2009 - 9:59 AM
>>>>>>>Austerity is a cultivated trait of character.
Simple living is actually a by-product of a life with spiritual purpose.
Examples- Adi Sankaracharya, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
It is not an end in itself, not even the means, but a by-product- result of the realisation of temporal nature of material acquisitions.
Gandhi, in retrospect, seems to have tried to model himself after the spiritual greats by borrowing their words, phrases and actions.
He perhaps believed that is the way to live life.
But life is not really for modelling it after somebody else.
It is for experiencing it oneself.
In today’s world many people model their lives after others. And experience life through the lives of others. Movies, television, books, reality shows, computer games, are all mediums which encourage people to live their lives through other’s.
With the result that many people lose a sense of self, often merging it with a collage of their many icons and with the need to be seen conforming to the latest fad.
Life degenerates to imitation.
And austerity assumes importance for its own sake or for public display.