Garish garland

I opened the Indian Express this morning and idly glanced at the front page picture. A political leader was being felicitated with a huge garland. But, there was something funny about the garland. It was not made of flowers. It was simply gigantic. Elephantine. A motley crew of politicos was draping it around their leader.

For some reason I thought it was made of sandal wood.

The garland was made of wood - pulped into paper - and stamped by the Reserve Bank of India in 1000 rupee denominations. Could this be the most expensive garland ever? The Indian Express estimated it at Rs. 21,00,000/- various other websites have it between Rs. 2,00,00,000 and Rs. 5,00,00,000/-.

Why does this all matter?

Only because the person being garlanded is the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh - which would be the 6th largest country in the world if its 100 million plus inhabitants were an independent country. Only because the lady in the middle claims the mantle of leading the Dalit millions of our country forward. Only because you don't get 21 lakhs rupees for nothing.

Politics in our country in 2010 is simple. There is no free lunch. Money comes - but it always demands a price.

How totally crass, totally ludicrous, totally sham this looks is clearly irrelevant to all the actors in this picture (and many many more off camera).

Its a show of power. A declaration that the party in question - the Bahujan Samaj Party - plans to be a major player in the years to come.

Its a show of the same grinding sycophancy that all our dear parties exhibit. Great public spectacles of loyalty towards our 'netas' (leaders). Anyone who dares criticise is immediately in the dog-house.

Its a show of total unblinking corruption. Look at the folks around the lady. No prizes for guessing where many of these men have spent time. Tough. Shades. A glint of menace. Its no surprise that so many of our politicians are wanted by the police for everything from rioting to rape to murder.

Flash back to 1989.

I had joined Vishal Mangalwadi for his attempt to enter our national parliament. The Lok Sabha elections were on. Vishal chose to contest from his native Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh. His opponents were a lady scion of a Congress political family - and another lady who later became known as the fiery sadhvi - Uma Bharati.

The party Vishal chose was a totally unknown unit called the Bahujan Samaj Party. Based on a prior set of political mobilisation of scheduled caste and tribe government officials knows as the DS4 - the BSP was making its fledgling steps onto the national scene.

They won only two seats - and even that was considered a break through. Vishal lost his deposit.

But what struck me from the 2 weeks I spent observing the campaign was the passion of the people. The BSP at that point could hardly even hire a half dozen jeeps to canvass. They faced formidable odds to start anything. But they had cadres who were mobilising. Who were holding meetings.

One dusty evening I saw a young girl stand up and address a crowd. It was the end of the day. The power was off. She was speaking using a small battery powered mike. She must have been all of 15. Her slight frame barely stood out in the gloom. A maroon salwar-kameez. She talked. People listened. She had a mesmerizing effect - a young firebrand.

Where is that girl today? Did she use her skills and piggy back the caste-based parties move to power like Mayawati did? Did she get married off and is now living a domestic life in some small town of Madhya Pradesh? Did she suddenly die in an 'accident' (stranger things have happened). Is she still holding forth to a small crowd somewhere?

How sad to see our political process so denatured. So horribly wrong. Every Rs. 1000 note in that garland is at least half a months salary for most of our population. One website estimated it was made of 50,000 such notes.

So much for social justice and uplifting the Dalit. Mayawati has showed what we have known all along - that politics is the art of doing what it takes to stay in power. Just as others have used various pulls and currents to push themselves forward - so this canny lady has allowed the aspirations of the many down-trodden to push her and her clique into the same space of those whom she accuses of being the oppressors.

The Good Book says that we are to pray for all in positions of authority. I shall be praying for Mayawati and the BSP. I have on and off been praying for our friends in the BJP. I need to be more serious and consistent in doing so for our Prime Minister and other folks. We have a long, long way to go in our blessed land. Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy.